The Ashes: Andrew McDonald says veteran Australian opener Usman Khawaja has not raised retirement talks

Usman Khawaja has not raised the prospect of retiring after next week’s Sydney Test with Andrew McDonald, the Australian coach has revealed.

It comes as McDonald also left the door open for all his veterans to play through until the 2027 Ashes tour of the United Kingdom.

There has been widespread speculation the final Ashes Test — which starts at the SCG on Sunday — will be Khawaja’s last, given the 39-year-old’s lean run of form and Australia’s plan to leave him out of the Adelaide Test earlier this month.

McDonald said the call would not be left purely in Khawaja’s hands, but said the veteran opener had not raised the prospect of dropping the curtain on his career yet.

“With Uz, we’ve been really clear that we haven’t had the conversation, the speculation has been from the external,” he said, fronting media on what would have been day four of the Boxing Day Test.

“He’s with his family at the moment, having a couple of days off, and we will build into Sydney, and we’re always having conversations around where players are at and speaking directly with players.

“There is no indication at my end that he’s calling it in Sydney. That will be something that we discuss, but his performance in this calendar year has been good enough to warrant selection.

“I’d see he’ll be there, marking centre in Sydney.”

But the same certainty wasn’t afforded to West Australian Cam Green. The struggling all-rounder’s name will come up in conversations around Tasmanian Beau Webster, McDonald confirmed.

It comes after former Test captain Kim Hughes told The West Australian he wanted Green to be afforded time in the middle to work through his form slump.

Green has batted in every position between No.3 and No.8 since March last year, and McDonald says he shuffled through the order to suit others because he hasn’t nailed down his own spot.

“When you’ve got some key pillars and stability players, and you’ve got Steve Smith at four and your openers, there are always going to be players that move in and around that.

“Alex Carey to six, that was a reward for the performances he’s had over a period of time.

“(Green) fits around others at the moment; he hasn’t nailed down a spot.”

Asked about Webster’s potential selection, the Aussie coach said “it’s a nice problem to have” and that the all-rounder spot will be on the selection table.

“We know we have got a quality player sitting there waiting,” he said.

Marnus Labuschagne and Jake Weatherald faced reserve bowlers Brendan Doggett and Todd Murphy in the MCG nets on Monday.

Another West Aussie, Jhye Richardson, could be left on the outer for Sydney, with McDonald flagging he was keen to pick Victorian spinner Todd Murphy.

He said a four-man pace attack allowed for Richardson to play for both team balance and managing his capacity in a return from shoulder surgery, but questioned whether they could accommodate him in a three-pronged approach.

Australia does not play another Test match after Sydney for eight months. They meet Bangladesh in the Top End in August and then travel to face World Test Championship-winners South Africa.

But after hosting New Zealand next home summer, they play five matches against India in India and five against England in England in the first half of 2027.

McDonald wouldn’t rule out any of his team’s veterans from making that tour. That group includes bowlers Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon, as well as Khawaja and Steve Smith.

“I think that will all happen probably 12 months out (from the next Ashes),” McDonald said.

“If Steve Smith is there that’s fantastic news for us. Would we talk to him about pursuing that? It’s such a long way away at the moment.

“I remember having a conversation with him in Nagpur, going back to I think it was 2023, about what does it look like going forward and on that stage he was on the record around taking it Test by Test.

“It feels like Steve now has the appetite to play on.

“We are in constant communication with our players, so we wouldn’t be surprised if some don’t make it, but on the other side of that we wouldn’t be surprised if all of them got there as well, because they’re physically capable. It will be whether their bodies allow.