The Ashes: Australian opener Usman Khawaja ruled out of second Test as Josh Inglis and Beau Webster brought in

Usman Khawaja’s Test future hangs in the balance after he was ruled out of the second Ashes Test with the back spasms that plagued the opener in Perth.

Travis Head is now firming to replace him at the top of the order for the match in Brisbane from Thursday after his match-winning innings in Perth in what will be another radical reshuffle in Australia’s batting unit.

Cricket Australia announced Khawaja would not play on Tuesday afternoon after he battled through a training session at the Gabba on Monday.

It means the veteran’s 15-year Test career is almost certainly over after 85 matches and 16 centuries.

Khawaja was unable to open in either innings in Perth and spent much of the match resting on the sidelines with back spasms. Cricket Australia’s statement on Tuesday referred the issue as a “back injury” for the first time.

Australia did not replace him in the squad and Head now looms as the replacement after a quiet two-year campaign to be elevated to the role.

“I’d probably expect Trav to open with the make-up of our squad,” Australian bowler Scott Boland said.

It would leave West Australian dasher Josh Inglis in a battle with all-rounder Beau Webster for a spot in the middle-order.

Inglis has played three Tests, including hitting a century on debut in Sri Lanka back in January. He was trialled as an opener in a CA XI team that took on England Lions during the first Test and made a second-innings century.

Boland made the case for Webster — who debuted in the final Test of last summer — and said he “makes us a stronger team”.

“He’s obviously done really well, he was a big part of the team when he was in it, he was making good runs at six, he was bowling really important overs and I think you’ve seen him in the field, he’s a gun catcher,” he said.

There is also a chance Cam Green is pushed up from No.6 to No.5, with the replacement to slide in behind him.

What now loom as the final days of Khawaja’s career have been littered with controversy.

He has come under-fire for playing golf on each of the three days leading into the Perth Test, where he was then plagued by injury, and made a cheeky reference to that in an Instagram post that featured a golf photo after the two-day match.

The 38-year-old was also asked by Cricket Australia to explain his description of the Perth wicket as a “piece of s...t” during a bizarre rant at an event supporting his own charity foundation.

Khawaja has also failed to pass 50 in his past nine Test innings.

The left-hander faced just six deliveries in Perth before being nicked off for two by a rearing delivery from Brydon Carse.

England have also been forced into making a change with star fast bowler Mark Wood ruled out and replaced by spinning all-rounder Will Jacks.

Wood has spent the past three days wearing a clunky brace on his left knee, the same knee he underwent surgery on in March, after reporting pain.

Australia squad: Steve Smith (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Brendan Doggett, Cameron Green, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, Mitchell Starc, Jake Weatherald, Beau Webster