Bleed for the Bulls: What really happened behind the Khawaja blow-up

When Usman Khawaja walks out to bat in the Sheffield Shield final, he will have the opportunity to make runs in front of his fiercest critic.

Queensland Cricket boss Joe Dawes is in Adelaide for the decider, after duelling press conferences that were nearly two years in the making.

The unsightly row raised plenty of eyebrows around the country, in large part because it represented a rare level of infighting in the state that most likes to talk about its men’s cricket team as a brotherhood. But if Dawes and Khawaja are brothers, their relationship had come to resemble that of Cain and Abel, or William and Harry.

Star Queensland and Australia opener Usman Khawaja. Credit: Getty Images

Where in South Australia, a 29-year Shield drought has had much to do with disconnection and self-serving clubs, the Queensland fracas has highlighted a chasm between Khawaja and the players of Dawes' generation.

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