MITCHELL JOHNSON: Usman Khawaja attending Melbourne Grand Prix with Nathan Lyon is not a great look

There appears to have been a lack of communication between Cricket Australia, Queensland Cricket and Usman Khawaja regarding his availability and hamstring injury.

While it is concerning that he pulled out due to injury, it is even more surprising that he then took a flight to attend the Australian Grand Prix last Sunday.

The extraordinary bust-up between the Australian Test opener and Queensland officials has provided a remarkable lead-in to the Sheffield Shield final against South Australia. Not to mention earning domestic cricket some headlines with the AFL and NRL seasons in full swing!

Athletes aren’t robots and have a life outside the game. But I look at this from a team perspective and think about what it says to the rest of the players.

At 38, you would expect Khawaja knows his body well and what he needs to do to get himself right. Travelling on a plane and spending days on your feet probably isn’t the ideal recovery or preparation but we are in a different time to when I played. Players have a lot of say in their individual programs.

But in a team game, it just doesn’t seem like the right choice. In the end, you prove things by action not words.

There are many players who would do anything for a baggy maroon cap. I remember coming into the Queensland team as an 18-year-old and how proud that squad was. They wanted to play for each other and win titles.

We often had Australian players coming in and out of the squad, but one thing I remember clearly is that when those players put the baggy maroon on, it was special.

If you’re a Queensland player in this situation, it’s messy seeing it unfold. You have to navigate distractions while trying to maintain focus on the task at hand, which is performing at your best in an upcoming final.

It’s not uncommon for issues to arise behind the scenes and to be dealt with quietly. Maybe there is a reason why the Khawaja saga has become so public and that’s another indication of the strong feelings involved.

It will be interesting to see how all this pans out and if Usman remains available, will he be selected? Time will tell.

Queensland head of elite cricket Joe Dawes said the team’s medical staff told him there was no reason Khawaja couldn’t have played in their last regular season match and that “I have got a bunch of blokes here that all want to play”.

Khawaja says he’s so committed to Queensland cricket that, despite feeling uncomfortable about it, he left his family at home with a cyclone about to hit in order to travel to Tasmania to play the previous game.

It seems as though feelings are running very deep over this dispute and multiple people are now hurt. It will be interesting to see how it all pans out and whether Khawaja ends up taking his place in the final from Wednesday.

You would no doubt get a different version of what transpired from every person you spoke to.

What’s interesting to me is that poor communication between Cricket Australia, Queensland Cricket appears to be a major reason for the fallout. That communication has always been a problem between State and CA, so as much as the cricket world changes some things remain the same.

Meanwhile, Western Australia will be looking on. After parallel hat-tricks in both the shield and one-day competitions, WA fell back to earth with a thud with wooden spoons in both competitions this summer.

While it was a disappointing outcome, this isn’t the time to assign blame.

It’s crazy to think of the fine margins involved, with WA falling just 35 runs short of defeating Victoria this week and earning a spot in the shield final. Instead, it was down to the bottom of the table.

The shield standings are puzzling this season, with Queensland surprisingly making the final in second spot with three wins while Victoria misses out with four.

The whole bonus points system can be confusing and sometimes feels a bit unfair, especially when you see a team with fewer victories qualifying for the finals over others with better win records. It raises questions about the value of consistency versus that sporadic success that can get you those crucial bonus points.

But the bonus point system does at least set us up for a good final, with two teams trying to win, unlike the old system where the home team could just roll out a flat pitch and play for a draw.

I was part of the Queensland v Victoria shield final in 2005/06 when the Bulls made 6d-900. I was disappointed I didn’t get a bat because I wanted to make a hundred like everyone else!

While we did manage to win the game on the fifth day, it wasn’t a normal Gabba deck that was prepared. As a player, you don’t really want to win the shield that way.