'Hoping the journey for the next Usman Khawaja is a bit easier'

Usman Khawaja used his retirement press conference at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) to speak openly about the criticism he received earlier in the Ashes and how it connected, in his view, to racial stereotyping he has faced throughout his career.

Khawaja had been criticised for playing golf in the lead-up to the opening Ashes Test in Perth, with him needing to field questions around his preparation and commitment. He said the narrative around that episode felt personal.

"I had back spasms, and that's something I couldn't control," Khawaja said in his nearly 55-minute long press conference at the SCG. "But the way the media and the past players came out and attacked me, I could have copped it for two days, but I copped it for about five days straight. And it wasn't even about my performances."

Reflecting on the scrutiny he faced after suffering back spasms ahead of the Perth Test, Khawaja said the criticism went far beyond cricket.

"It was about something very personal, it's about my preparation," he said. "The way everyone came at me about my preparation, it was quite personal in terms of things like, he's not committed to the team, he was only worried about himself, he played this golf comp the day before, he's selfish, he doesn't train hard enough, he's lazy. These are the same stereotypes, the racial stereotypes I've grown up with my whole life."

Khawaja, who was born in Pakistan and became the first Muslim to represent Australia in Test cricket, said he had long felt treated differently within the system.

"I've always felt a little bit different, even now," he said. "I'm a coloured cricketer. The Australian cricket team is our best team. It's our pride and joy. But I've also felt very different in a lot of respects, different by the way I've been treated, different for how things have happened.

"I can give you countless number of guys who played golf the day before and have been injured," he added later. "You guys haven't said a thing. No one else said a thing. I can give you even more, probably guys who've had 15 schooners the night before and then got injured. No one said a word. That's all right. They're just being Aussie larrikins. They're just being lads."

Khawaja said the episode forced him to speak up, even though it was not something he wanted to do.

"I felt that I had to bring this up," he said. "I didn't want to talk about this, but I just want the journey for the next Usman Khawaja to be different. I want you to treat him or her all the same, not have racial stereotypes of who they might be."

He said the response to his injury stood out when compared to how similar situations involving other players had been handled.

"You guys had a crack at me for missing a game, yet plenty of my team-mates, who were not playing, you didn't say a word to them," Khawaja said of the criticism he faced last year, when he missed the final round of Sheffield Shield because of hamstring tightness and used some of his recovery time to attend the Australian Formula One Grand Prix.

"So for me, I've been dealing with this stuff a long time. And I know people are like, okay, Uzzy's here, he's playing the race card again, but don't gaslight me."

While acknowledging progress over the years, Khawaja said the issue had not disappeared.

"There's still a little bit out there, which I still have to fight every single day," he said. "When I got injured, everyone went at my credibility and who I am as a person. That was the frustrating part."

"At the age of 25 I tried so hard to fit into the Australian cricket team. I was trying to dress like all the boys; I was going out to the clubs even though I didn't drink," said Khawaja.

"I tried all that and it didn't get work. I'd still get dropped from the Australian cricket team. I get it - my name isn't John Smith. When the 50-50 calls happen they're just not going my way. Why am I trying to be like everybody else?

"I'm hoping the journey for the next Usman Khawaja is a bit easier and we get to a line, however many generations, where that Usman Khawaja is the same as John Smith. That's what I've been trying to champion the whole time. We're a lot better and inclusive society than we've been before, but there's still a way to go because Australian cricket is still very white in a lot of respects. It might take time, but as long as you're working towards it you can't do more than that."