Usman Khawaja became an Ashes villain with his own Aussie fans. Now a cricket legend says one of his teammates can end his career with four simple words

All-time cricket great Barry Richards believes Travis Head can replace Usman Khawaja at the top of the Aussie batting order by simply telling stand-in skipper Steve Smith, 'I want to open.'

The legendary South African batter's take comes as Khawaja's place in the Ashes team remains under heavy scrutiny after his disastrous first Test in Perth.  

Despite being almost 39 years old and with little cricket under his belt, Khawaja reportedly played 18 holes of golf for three days straight before the first match against England, then suffered two lots of back spasms that prevented him from opening the batting at Optus Stadium. 

Head made a stellar 123 from just 83 balls as he replaced Khawaja in the second innings, winning the Test for the hosts.

'Travis Head is the man with the power in this call,' Richards told News Corp.

'If he goes up to Steve Smith and says "I want to open", that should be the end of it.

'It's important that he means it because to do well as an opener you really have to want to do it.

'If he doesn't, it's another discussion.'

Khawaja - who was named in an unchanged squad for the second Ashes Test - insists he will be able to get through the Brisbane match without pain-killing injections, after being prepared to have an epidural if the series opener had gone to day three in Perth.

Speaking at an Usman Khawaja Foundation fundraiser on Friday, he also revealed how back spasms left him struggling to stand up in the first Ashes Test.

Khawaja was unable to open in the first innings last week, because of time spent off the field seeking treatment during England's day-one collapse.

He made a point to field on day two so he could bat in Australia's chase, despite warnings from team medical staff that the injury could get worse.

The opener then succumbed to injury when jumping for a ball that flew over his head at slip, immediately feeling pain in his back on landing.

'Before I went on the physio said, "Look, you're feeling good now, the slightest movement can make it three, four or 10 times worse, that's the risk",' Khawaja said.

'I was like, I either do that or I don't open for my country. So I went out again, and everything was going fine, until that nick went over my head.

'As I landed, I thought, "Oh no. Please, you're good, it's just mind over matter".

'And then every ball I was trying to get down to, it got worse ... I had to call (Alex) Carey over and I was like, "I can't stand up".

'I walked off the field, and was pretty devastated.'

Khawaja could only look on as Head dismantled the English attack, fuelling calls for him to open in Brisbane.

'I'm really glad that we got it done that night, because the next day I already had the radiology booked,' Khawaja said.

'Next day I was going to get an epidural in my back, so I can actually move somewhat.

'It was a tough three days, but I was trying to do everything I could to actually get on the field and play for Australia ... so if the team needed me, I was there.'

Head's magical 69-ball hundred has prompted calls for him to open permanently, at Khawaja's expense after a lean run for the left-hander.

Khawaja insisted on Friday he had not paid attention to the talk, after also making clear ahead of the summer that he has treated every Test as a bonus after his 2022 recall.

The Queensland opener has a tremendous record at the Gabba, averaging 59.37 there in the Sheffield Shield across the past four summers.

And when it comes to his fitness, Khawaja is confident he will be fine.

He spent one night this week sleeping with a pregnancy pillow, and while that didn't work the veteran said at this stage there was no need for further injections.

'I've never had back spasms before, so it's very new to me,' Khawaja said, with his charity helping support children from diverse, rural and low socio-economic backgrounds.

'But the last few days, it's been good.'