Usman Khawaja to retire from all forms of international cricket after Sydney Test

Usman Khawaja will retire from all forms of international cricket after the end of the fifth Ashes Test between England and Australia in Sydney.

Khawaja, 39, made the announcement on Friday, January 2. He said he was "glad I get to leave on my own terms, with a little bit of dignity, and go out at the SCG where I love."

"I've been thinking about it, not wholly, but for a while," Khawaja was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo. "Moving into this series, I kind of had an inkling in my head that this would be the last series.

"I talked to Rachel [Khawaja's wife] about it a fair bit, and I knew this was a big chance. I didn't leave the door fully shut, because I knew there was a chance I could play on. I know [coach] Andrew McDonald, even right till the very end, when I told him a few days ago, he was still thinking about how I could get to India [in 2027].

"I'm glad I get to leave on my own terms, with a little bit of dignity, and go out at the SCG where I love. But I think the start of the series was a pretty tough time. Then going into Adelaide and not being picked initially for the game, that was probably a sign for me to say, 'all right, it's time to move on'."

Khawaja to continue in BBL and Sheffield Shield 

Usman Khawaja has confirmed he will continue to play in the Big Bash League (BBL) for Brisbane Heat and for Queensland in the Sheffield Shield later in the Australian summer.

Khawaja had made his Test debut at the SCG in January 2011 and has played a total of 87 Tests, scoring 6206 runs at an average of 43.39, including 16 hundreds and 28 fifties.

Cricket Australia CEO Todd Greenberg thanked the southpaw for his services to the country and congratulated him on his achievements.

"Usman has made a huge contribution to Australian cricket both through his outstanding achievements as one of our most stylish and resilient batters since his Test debut 15 years ago, and off-field, particularly through the Usman Khawaja Foundation," Cricket Australia CEO Todd Greenberg said. "On behalf of Australian Cricket, I would like to thank and congratulate Usman for all he has achieved.