Three-ton Usman Khawaja primed for Glamorgan in hope of Australia return
WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND - FEBRUARY 10: Usman Khawaja of Australia poses during a portrait session at Oriental Bay on February 10, 2016 in Wellington, New Zealand. (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
By Charlie Talbot-Smith
Australian Usman Khawaja is loving life at Glamorgan following his record-breaking start for the county.
The 31-year-old batsman, dropped by Australia for the ODI series in England, has fired three centuries in a row in his first three games for Glamorgan – a feat never before achieved at the county.
Those three County Championship games were something of a bonus for Khawaja – who was signed for the Blast but joined up with his teammates early and hit the ground running.
“I came over here just to help Glamorgan out with the T20 stuff. I thought it would be nice if I could come down here and score a couple of runs and even better if I can help get some wins for the side.
“I was never expecting to get three hundreds in a row.
“I didn’t hit many balls before the first game. I had only one net session. I was definitely fresh so it might have helped!
“Cardiff is a great city, the boys are great and I am really enjoying being here. I am having a lot of fun here at the moment.”
Glamorgan were semi-finalists last year before going down to the Birmingham Bears but with Colin Ingram, Khawaja and Shaun Marsh they are not short of firepower this year.
And Khawaja – who is still texting Australia coach Justin Langer and will link up with Australia A and miss the last couple of Blast games as a result – is confident they can go one better in 2018.
“Obviously, we did pretty well last year, so we all have high expectations for this year,” he added.
“We want to win it this year. T20 is a tough one because it’s one of those hit-and-miss things that you can get on a roll with and you can win some really close games, and that can set your whole tournament up.
“We have got a few new faces in for the T20. Colin Ingram has come back and Shaun Marsh has come back to the team. It is a different format, so the guys are just looking forward to playing.
“Obviously I was disappointed to be dropped by Australia, but my job is to play for Glamorgan so I am just focusing on winning games
“It was frustrating, but the longer you are in the game, the better you are at dealing with these situations and matters of selections.
“I’ve had plenty of chats with Justin. He’s a really easy-going guy and we are always messaging, texting and talking, so it has been good.”