USMAN KHAWAJA has hit out against a culture of “racial stereotypes” in Australian cricket, declaring the sport is “still very white” as he announced his international retirement today.

The fifth Ashes Test in Khawaja’s hometown of Sydney will be the final act of a 15-year career in the Baggy Green and the 39-year-old is not going quietly.

The Pakistan-born batter, Australia’s first Muslim Test cricketer, spoke for over 45 minutes at the SCG this morning, telling reporters he was “off the leash now” as he railed against perceived inequalities in his treatment.

While many of his grievances were historic, he hit out at the way the back injury he suffered in the series opener against England was reported and received, suggesting he was singled out unfairly.

“I’ve always felt a little bit different, even to now. Different in the way I’ve been treated, different in how things have happened,” he said.

“When I did my back, I had back spasms, it was something I couldn’t control. The way the media and the past players came out and attacked me….I copped it for about five days straight. Everyone was piling in.

“Once the racial stereotypes came in, of me being lazy, it was things I’ve dealt with my whole life. Pakistani, West Indian, coloured players…we’re selfish, we only care about ourselves, we don’t care about the team, we don’t train hard enough.

“I just thought the media and old players and everyone else had moved past them, but we obviously haven’t moved past them. All these things came back and made me realise we’re not quite there.

“We’re a lot better and inclusive society than we’ve been before but there’s still a way to go because Australian cricket is still very white in a lot of respects.”

Khawaja, who has scored over 6,000 Test runs in 87 appearances with 16 centuries, said he expected his words to go down badly with some but hoped to help smooth the path for others to follow in his footsteps.