Usman Khawaja's shock revelation about umpire after Ashes ball change furore

In the wake of Australia's fifth Test loss and the subsequent drawn Ashes series, Usman Khawaja has revealed he questioned the umpires' choice of replacement ball in Australia's second innings not once, but twice - only to be told there were no better options. Australian fans were furious and even England bowler Chris Woakes admitted the visitors had the right to feel dudded after the home side were given a replacement ball in noticeably better condition than the existing one late on day four of the fifth Test.

England had called for a replacement ball after the existing one was deemed to be out of shape after a delivery slammed into Khawaja's helmet. Ordinarily, a ball is chosen from a wide selection that best resembles the condition of the previous one so as not to give the bowling team an advantage - however the ball chose by umpires Joel Wilson and Kumar Dharmasena was quite clearly in substantially better condition than the one it was replacing.

POOR: England's 'classless' act towards Smith after final Ashes Test in England

INTERESTING: Cummins and Starc at centre of worrying fallout after Ashes

Khawaja and David Warner had admirably seen off the new ball when the replacement was called for - with the ball chosen in such noticeably better condition that it was likened to a new one. Khawaja, Australia's leading run-scorer for the series, said he questioned both umpires separately on how the could have come to the conclusion that it was a fitting replacement ball.

Both the Aussies openers were noticeably unhappy when the replacement ball was tossed to the England bowling attack. Even Woakes said the Aussies 'wouldn’t have been happy' with what was selected at the close of day four.

“I walked straight up to Kumar and said straightaway, ‘That ball looks nothing like the one we were playing with. I can see writing on it’,” Khawaja said after the match. “It felt harder than any ball I‘ve faced in this Ashes series – and I’ve opened the batting against the new ball every single time.

“I said, ‘I don’t know what’s going on – you’ve gone from an old, reverse (swinging) ball to a brand new ball’. I asked Joel again today, ‘How are we using this ball right now? It’s so new’. And he said, ‘There was nothing else in the box’."

Usman Khawaja taken aback by umpires' response

That answer left Khawaja fuming, with the replacement ball going on to be used for an extraordinary number of overs - however with England spinner Moeen Ali picking up three crucial wickets with it, the argument against the replacement ball has been tempered somewhat. Khawaja called for the ICC to step in after Australia ultimately lost seven wickets for 70 runs in a collapse that resulted in a drawn series.

“Personally, I think if there’s nothing else in the box that can match the ball you have, you can’t really change it,” Khawaja said. “It‘s a bit frustrating as a batting unit because we worked our backsides off for 36 overs and then they changed the ball.

“As an opener you work so hard to get through to there and then you‘re facing a new ball again. That ball was 95 overs in and still hooping and bouncing.

“Unfortunately, that’s the hand you get dealt sometimes in cricket. It may not feel fair, but … hopefully the ICC can learn from it and try to look at that ball to change the process.”

The substantially better condition of the replacement ball had former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting fuming, questioning how two experienced umpires in Wilson and Dharmasena could possibly have come to the conclusion that it was the only fitting replacement. The original ball was used for just 36 overs before being replaced, with the substitute being used for the rest of the match.

“The biggest concern I have is the big discrepancy in the condition of the ball chosen to replace it. There is no way in the world you can even look at those two balls there and say in any way they are comparable,” he told Sky Sports.

“If you are going to change balls, you want to make sure you get it right, as close as you possibly can to the one you are changing it from. There weren’t too many older-condition balls in there.

"But there were some that were picked up, the umpires looked at them, and threw them back. I just cannot fathom how two international umpires, that have done that a lot of times before, can actually get it so wrong.

"That is a huge moment in this game, potentially a huge moment in the Test match. And something I think has to be investigated.”

Sign up to our newsletter and score the biggest sport stories of the week.