Relaxed Khawaja feels like he belongs

From the moment in Sri Lanka, at the very outset of Michael Clarke’s Test captaincy, that Ricky Ponting renounced his tenure as Australia’s number three batsmen numerous iterations of selection panels and lounge room pundits have scrambled to find a similarly influential replacement.

The batting berth that is historically regarded as any team’s most pivotal has been entrusted – across the 56 Tests since Ponting took leave during the Sri Lanka tour of 2011 for the birth of his second child and returned to settle lower in the order – without finding a definitive answer.

Shaun Marsh, Usman Khawaja, Shane Watson, Rob Quiney, Phillip Hughes, David Warner, Michael Clarke, Ed Cowan, Alex Doolan, Glenn Maxwell and Steve Smith were all tried as options with some – most notably Marsh, Hughes, Khawaja and Watson – reinstalled on multiple occasions.

Which in itself indicates the berth had been earmarked for whichever of the three talented left-handers (before Hughes’s tragically premature death) was able to string together sufficient Test performances to claim it.

But with the exception of Smith – who held the job through last year’s away series in the Caribbean and the UK before relinquishing it when he inherited the captaincy and its accompanying right to adjudicate on the batting order – none had averaged better than 30.

Quick Single: Khawaja century continues golden run

In truth, most of those who filled the role on more than a cameo basis averaged below 25, and until Smith’s imperious 199 in Jamaica that ensured he had the job for as long as he wanted it, Australia received just three centuries from their number three batsmen in almost four years.

That was 42 Test matches played in seven countries between the departure of Ponting and the arrival of Smith at number three during which the only three-figure scores came from Marsh (in his debut innings when Ponting was unavailable in Sri Lanka) and twice from Watson.

The first of those coming in the dead-rubber Test against England at the end of the 2013 Ashes campaign and as Australia chased quick runs in the series-deciding Perth Test against England in 2013.

Over the same period, Kane Williamson scored almost three times that number of centuries batting at three for New Zealand and during that time, Australia won less than 50 per cent of the Test matches they played.

When Ponting was in his pomp as the most prolific Test number three his country has produced (that decade from the start of the 2001 Ashes campaign in England), Australia’s winning percentage was closer to 65 per cent.

But the emphatic arrival of Khawaja in his third incarnation as a Test number three has not only solved a dilemma that has existed for five years, it has allowed Australia to field its most settled middle-order since the days when Ponting and the Waugh twins (Mark and Stephen) were selection certainties.

Khawaja’s current run of form, which extended into yet another century today when he posted 140 against the Black Caps at Wellington’s Basin Reserve, sees him in exalted – in fact Bradman-esque – company.

The six innings that Khawaja has played across five Tests since being recalled to Australia’s Test team last November – punctuated only by a hamstring strain that sidelined him for two and rain that prevented him from batting in Sydney over new year – have yielded 644 runs.

With a remarkable return of four centuries plus a half-century, at an average of 128.80.

The only other batsman in almost 140 years of Test cricket to have regularly batted at number three (on half a dozen occasions or more) and averaged more than 100 in doing so is Bradman, whose record of 5078 runs at 103.63 from 56 innings will never be challenged.

No matter if Khawaja manages to keep riding this current wave of dominance for years to come.

It paints a vastly different picture to the 317 runs he compiled in his previous 14 innings at number three between his Test debut in 2011 and his third crack at the game last year, that saw him average less than 25 and reach 50 only once.

While trying to pinpoint a reason or two for such a marked change in fortunes can risk an outbreak of paralysis through analysis. Khawaja has a few thoughts on why he feels so much more comfortable and confident in his third go at Test cricket.

“I can't put my finger on one thing,” Khawaja said after play this evening, having earlier in the day reached the 1,000-Test runs mark that have seemed distantly unobtainable as he recovered from a serious knee injury a year ago. 

“I'm not sure if there is a one thing. 

“But I always felt when I first played for Australia that I was sort of playing for my spot a little bit. 

“I never really felt like I was in the team, felt like I was sort of looking over my shoulder.

“This time it came around, I scored 100 in that first game (against New Zealand at the ‘Gabba) and that sort of relieved the pressure a little bit. 

“But even before I played that first game, Boof (Lehmann, Australia coach) had a chat to me and just told me to relax.

“He said I'd get a fair crack at it (Test cricket), so that kind of helped too.”

And while pointing out that he enjoyed his earlier Test experiences even if they did not generate the returns he hoped, that pressure he felt to perform impacted upon the level of comfort he felt as a newcomer in an alien environment.

Not just a Test team that he was new to join, but a team in transition where tenure – as shown by the revolving door of number three batsmen tried and discarded – was tough to secure.

"It's nice to have a few friendly faces around,” Khawaja said this evening. 

“I grew up playing with Steve Smith, David Warner and Josh Hazlewood at New South Wales.

“Obviously Joe Burns now that I’m at Queensland … and Boof, who was coach at Queensland (before taking on the national job).

“I'm not saying that's the reason I've come back and scored runs, but it's been nice to come back and see familiar faces. 

“I had fun even before, when I played Test cricket I obviously didn't set the world on fire. 

“But it's just been a really relaxed atmosphere, and that’s what you want when you're playing at the highest level because there's enough pressure and whatever stuff goes on around it.

“You just want to get into the best position and best head-space possible.  

“It helps that we've played some pretty decent cricket since I've come back, we've won a lot of games which always helps too. 

“So there's a whole range of factors I think.”

Even though a Test century eluded him in his early matches for Australia, and as he closed in on his 30th birthday with a knee reconstruction to negotiate before he could even contemplate where his career might take him, Khawaja maintained belief in his destiny.

Although he concedes that century he posted on his new home ground against the Black Caps at the start of his ongoing golden summer, the one the selectors had also yearned for from their number three and which has prompted a further three on the trot, provided the pivot point.

“In my head I always thought I was good enough to play Test cricket,” he said.

“But it probably wasn't until I got that first Test century (last November) that I was like 'yeah, there you go'. 

“That's the sort of feeling I needed to know I was good enough. 

“When you get that first 100, it's the same in first-class cricket. 

“As much as you may know you're good enough, until you actually do it, it's not the same.

“I'm just feeling really comfortable. Every time I go out now, I have fun. I've said it a million times. 

“But in all honesty that's what I do now. That's why I play cricket. 

“I don't put too much pressure on myself about what I do anymore. 

“I love being out there with the boys and we're playing some really good cricket. 

“I keep it pretty simple.”