Usman Khawaja won a golf tournament on the eve of the first Test in Perth. He played 18 holes alongside Mitchell Starc, Scott Boland and some of the Australian coaching staff.

He also though batted for a cumulative six hours in the nets across the three days leading to his golf outing on Thursday.

Khawaja was the first batter in alongside Steve Smith last Tuesday as Australia officially kicked off their preparation for the Ashes campaign. He'd be among the last to leave, having faced an assortment of throwdowns, net bowlers and Pat Cummins. And he was back facing a rampaging Mitchell Starc a day later alongside Jake Weatherald. He was also very much a part of the routine fielding and catching drills during the main training session two days out from the Test. In other words, Khawaja had gone through his usual workload both in the nets and at training before taking the field on Friday in Perth.

So, to question his dedication to cricket is unfair and out of line. As is challenging his priorities with regards to how he went about preparing for the first Test. Or for that matter linking the back spasms that largely impacted his performance and participation in Perth to the 18 holes of golf he played a day earlier. That would entail a level of scapegoating that crosses the line in this scenario.

For, as has been well-publicised of late, the practice of playing golf on off days or even lead-in days to Tests has been in vogue around world cricket for a few years now. Whether it is to find a break from the cricket bubble while keeping yourself physically active or simply as a mental refresher before a big game.

It is learnt that Khawaja had played golf in Ahmedabad in early 2023 the day before he batted for 10 hours to make 180, his first Test ton in India. And he'd done the same before his century in Birmingham, where he batted on every day of the Test, a few months later during the 2023 Ashes. Even the verbiage around Khawaja having "skipped" an optional session is part of conflating the issue. Very few batters in world cricket find it compulsory to have a hit on the day before a Test match. And this wasn't the first time Khawaja had preferred not to.

However, the fact that the 38-year-old left-hander did miss out on opening the batting in the first innings in Perth wasn't a great outcome for him or his team. It's learnt that Khawaja had felt his back stiffen up during warm-ups before the start of play on Friday. And he had popped a couple of strong painkillers before taking the field. A few overs into England's innings though he began struggling to move, which resulted in having to leave the field. As has been reported since, the nature of England's late collapse in the first innings meant that he couldn't make it back to the field in time to bat in his normal position.

But he did battle through the stiffness with the help of painkillers again on Day 2 and was on the field for 15 overs to ensure that he gets to open in the second innings for Australia. That is before an awkward fall as he leapt to try and snare a catch at first slip more or less ended his hopes of taking strike alongside debutant Jake Weatherald. The sight of Khawaja slowly hobbling off the field was a rather painful one.

To quote Khawaja it did end up being the "best back spasm" he's had as it allowed Travis Head to get promoted and play one of the greatest Test knocks ever. But it does now bring into question Khawaja's place in the team as Australia prepare to build on their 1-0 lead in Brisbane next week.

Yes, there are other more tangible topics of discussion regarding Khawaja's immediate future in Test cricket. There's the temptation to hold on to Head at the top after the damage he inflicted both to England's bowlers and their spirits. There's also the lean returns for Khawaja since David Warner's retirement on either side of the three innings he played in Sri Lanka, which included the epic 232 at Galle.

The left-hander, who was nicked off by a brute of a delivery from Brydon Carse in Perth, has scored 536 runs at 21.44 with two half-centuries in 27 innings in seam-friendly conditions since the end of the 2023-24 home Test summer, when Warner hung up his boots.

Not great numbers for the man who in the two years leading up to that point was the best Test opener in the world. And there will continue to be a lot of scrutiny on Khawaja as he approaches what would be a dream farewell at the SCG, if it plays out that way. For now, it's a hung jury on whether he gets that far, with many experts still unsure of which way the selectors will go.

Whatever happens from here, it won't be through a lack of trying from the veteran or any compromise in how he prepares for his next Test. Just like there wasn't in Perth.