Usman Khawaja is an Australian cricketer

Cricketer

A cricketer is a person who plays the sport of cricket. Official and long-established cricket publications prefer the traditional word "cricketer" over the rarely used term "cricket player"....

. He was awarded player of the Australian Under 19 Championship in 2005 and also played for Australia

Australian U-19 cricket team

The Australian Under-19 cricket team have been playing official Under-19 test matches since 1978. Former captains include Stuart Law, Damien Martyn, Brad Haddin, Nathan Hauritz and Cameron White who have all gone on to play international cricket for Australia....

 in the 2006 U-19 Cricket World Cup

2006 U-19 Cricket World Cup

The 2006 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup was played in Sri Lanka from February 5 to February 19, 2006.The final was played between Pakistan and India in Colombo, which Pakistan won by 38 runs, enabling them to become the first back-to-back champions of the tournament.- Participating Nations :Sixteen...

 in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...

 as an opening batsman. His club side is Randwick-Petersham.

A left-hand top order batsman, Khawaja made his first class

First-class cricket

First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...

 debut for the New South Wales Blues

New South Wales Blues

The New South Wales cricket team are an Australian first class cricket team based in Sydney, New South Wales...

 in 2008. In the same year, he hit consecutive double centuries for the NSW Second XI—a feat never before achieved by a NSW player. On 22 June 2010 it was announced by Cricket Australia

Cricket Australia

Cricket Australia, formerly known as the Australian Cricket Board, is the governing body for professional and amateur cricket in Australia. It was originally formed in 1905 as the Australian Board of Control for International Cricket...

 that Usman Khawaja would be a part of the Australian touring squad to play Pakistan in a two Test series

Australian cricket team against Pakistan in England in 2010

-2nd T20I:-1st Test:-2nd Test:-First Class: Kent vs Pakistanis:-Tour match: Derbyshire vs Australians:-Tour match: Leicestershire vs Pakistanis:-Television:* Ten Sports: India, Pakistan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Indonesia* Sky Sports: UK...

 in England.

Khawaja was selected as part of the 17-man Australian squad for the 2010–11 Ashes series

2010–11 Ashes series

The 2010–11 Ashes series was played in Australia as part of the England cricket team's tour of Australia during the 2010–11 cricket season. Five Tests were played from 25 November 2010 to 7 January 2011...

. During the third test, Ricky Ponting

Ricky Ponting

Ricky Thomas Ponting , nicknamed Punter, is an Australian cricketer, a former captain of the Australian cricket team between 2004 and 2011 in Test cricket and 2002 and 2011 in One Day International cricket. He is a specialist right-handed batsman, slips and close catching fielder, as well as a very...

 fractured his finger and Khawaja was named as a stand-by if Ponting couldn't recover in time. He was subsequently selected in the Australian cricket team to play England in the fifth Test against England in Sydney on 3 January 2011. On 3 January 2011, Khawaja became the 419th Australian to be presented with an Australian Cricket Test baggy green

Baggy green

The baggy green is the evolution of a cricket cap of green colour, which has been worn by Australian Test cricketers since around the turn of the twentieth century. The cap was not originally baggy as evidenced by photographs of early players...

 cap. Khawaja became the first Muslim and first Pakistani-born Australian

Pakistani Australian

Pakistani Australians refers to someone born in Australia of Pakistani descent or to someone who has immigrated to Australia from Pakistan. Most Pakistani Australians are Muslims by religion though there is also a sizeable Christian minority....

 player to play test cricket for Australia, and only the seventh foreign-born cricketer to do so in the last 80 years. He signed a contract to play for county side Derbyshire

Derbyshire County Cricket Club

Derbyshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the England and Wales domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Derbyshire...

 in the 2011 English domestic season.

Other than being a cricket player, Khawaja is a qualified pilot, completing a Bachelors degree in Aviation from the University of New South Wales

University of New South Wales

The University of New South Wales , is a research-focused university based in Kensington, a suburb in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...

 before he made his test debut. He got his pilot licence before his driving licence. Usman is an ex-student of Westfields Sports High School

Westfields Sports High School

Westfields Sports High School is Australia's first Sports High school. It is a coeducational school in Fairfield West, Sydney, Australia...

.