Usman Khawaja

The record

Compiled by the MrScandal desk from the documents below · Desk editor Gustavs Ērkšķis-Kreicbergs · Nov 12, 2026

Usman Khawaja was reprimanded by the ICC in December 2023 for wearing a black armband during the first Test against Pakistan in Perth. An ICC spokesperson said he had displayed a personal message without first getting the approval of Cricket Australia and the ICC that the regulations require, a breach in the "other breach" category for which the sanction for a first offence is a reprimand. The armband followed an earlier ruling: before the Test, he said, the ICC told him he could not wear shoes reading "Freedom is a human right" and "All lives are equal" because it saw them as a political statement under its guidelines. Cricket Australia said it supported players' right to express personal opinions but expected them to uphold the ICC's rules.

Khawaja said the words on his shoes were a humanitarian appeal, not a political statement, and that he would respect the ICC's view but fight it and seek approval. He taped over the messages for the Test. After the charge he said the armband was for a personal bereavement, that he had told the ICC so on day two, and that he would contest the reprimand and ask the ICC to be consistent in how it applies its rules. He said he would not wear an armband in the Boxing Day Test. As a first offence, the charge carried no risk of suspension.

Khawaja, who in January 2011 became the first Muslim to play Test cricket for Australia, retired from international cricket after the fifth Ashes Test at the SCG in January 2026, his 88th Test. Announcing it on January 2, he said criticism of his preparation for the first Ashes Test in Perth carried racial overtones and that he was still dealing with stereotypes. He had helped shape Cricket Australia's Multicultural Action Plan, launched in 2023, and chief executive Todd Greenberg said he had played an enormous part in making the sport better.

His memoir Sabr, published by Penguin Random House on November 10, 2026, reopened the 2018 ball-tampering scandal. Khawaja, who played in the Cape Town Test, told The Sydney Morning Herald that sandpaper was first discussed and used during the previous Test at Port Elizabeth, that the whole team was responsible rather than only David Warner, Steve Smith and Cameron Bancroft, and that investigators never interviewed him. The four bowlers from that Test had denied in 2021 knowing a foreign substance was used. Cricket Australia said it remained comfortable with its findings, Warner called the account 100 percent accurate, and Greenberg ruled out reopening the investigation.

Roles and honours on the record

• 2011 Australia's first Muslim Test cricketer, debut in January 2011 source
• 2023 Helped shape Cricket Australia's Multicultural Action Plan source
• until 2026 Australia Test batter, 88 Tests; retired from international cricket in January 2026 source
• 2026 Author of the memoir Sabr, published by Penguin Random House source