Khawaja faces CA notice after dubbing Perth pitch ‘piece of...’

New Delhi: Usman Khawaja is expected to receive a formal notice from Cricket Australia after bluntly labelling the Perth Stadium surface for the first Ashes Test a “piece of s**t” during a charity lunch this week.

According to reports, CA officials were unhappy with the opener’s remarks, which came despite match referee Ranjan Madugalle awarding the wicket a “very good” rating, the highest an ICC official can give.

Madugalle’s assessment followed a match that finished inside two days, noting the surface had “good carry, limited seam movement, and consistent early bounce,” contributing to what he deemed a fair contest between bat and ball.

Khawaja, however, offered a sharply different view. Speaking at the event, he criticised the pitch for its variable bounce, pointing to the rapid fall of wickets on Day 1 and the number of batters struck and adding that even a player of Steve Smith’s calibre struggled to find the middle of the bat due to the up-and-down movement. IANS

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