The Ashes: Jason Gillespie accuses Usman Khawaja of ‘temper tantrum’ over reaction to golf criticism

Australian great Jason Gillespie has accused Usman Khawaja of throwing a “temper tantrum” after the retiring batter attributed the backlash he faced after suffering a back injury in Perth to racial stereotyping.

At his retirement press conference on Friday, Khawaja took aim at the media over what he felt was unfair treatment in the wake of his back issues, which emerged early in the first Test of The Ashes in Perth after he played several rounds of golf in the days leading in to the game.

“I hurt my back, I had back spasms, and it’s something I couldn’t control, and the way the media and the past players came out and attacked me — I could’ve copped it for two days, but I copped it for about five days straight,” he said.

“It (the criticism) was quite personal in terms of things like ‘he’s not committed to the team, he’s only worried about himself, he played this golf comp the day before, he’s selfish, he doesn’t train hard enough, he didn’t train the day before the game, he’s lazy’. These are the same stereotypes, the racial stereotypes, I’ve grown up with my whole life.

“I thought the media and the past players and everyone else had moved past them, but we obviously haven’t moved past them, because I’ve never seen anyone been treated like that in the Australian cricket team before — for their performances, yeah, but not for the uncontrollables, the way you guys (the media) went at me.”

While emphasising he was not questioning Khawaja had faced racism and discrimination over the course of his life, Gillespie said the questioning of his preparation was perfectly fair.

“I’ve actually always admired him and applauded him for speaking up because racism is a big stain on our society, and it always needs to be called out,” Gillespie told the ABC.

“He referenced racism when he was talking about criticism that he received.

“A few former players came out and quite rightly questioned whether that (playing golf) was the best possible preparation.

“Being questioned over that and being held to account over your choices, that’s not bullying, it’s not abuse, that’s all part and parcel of being a professional.

“You can’t really throw a temper tantrum when asked to take accountability for the job you’re actually paid to do.”

Gillespie — the first Indigenous man to play Test cricket for Australia — said the scrutiny Khawaja faced over preparation was no different to the spotlight England were put under after coming into the series on the back of only one practice match against their own reserves.

“I think the media in this space have been very consistent throughout this Ashes series,” he said.

“Usman also referenced that he’s been called lazy his whole life. I haven’t seen anything in the media that’s been said or written by anyone that’s referenced Usman being lazy, so I’m not sure where that’s come from.”