If 23-year-old Sydneysider Usman Khawaja becomes Australia's 416th Test cricketer tonight, he will cause a sensation, by virtue of being the first Muslim to wear the baggy green cap.

Not that Khawaja's religion should have any bearing on his inclusion, other than as the "human interest" angle. Born in Islamabad, Khawaja has been in Australia since he was three. I only raise it because it will be raised ad nauseam, but if we have to focus at all on his foreign birth and his religion, I would simply hope that Khawaja wearing the baggy green would show any immigrant to Australia that the sky is the limit to what they can achieve in their chosen field in this country.

Evidently the only time his religion has clashed with his cricket is when he failed to tell New South Wales coach Matthew Mott that he was fasting for Ramadan, and the coach wondered why his charge was in such duress after a heavy training session.

There will be plenty of cricket fans today who are wondering who he is, but not if they take an interest in the Sheffield Shield. Khawaja is a classical left-handed strokemaker whose composure at the crease has had Shield watchers asking "when?" and not "if?" about national selection since he broke through with consecutive centuries against Queensland and Western Australia in 2008-09, on his way to a respectable debut season of 525 runs at an average of 47.73, from 12 trips to the crease.

Khawaja repeated the centuries-in-consecutive-matches feat last summer against Queensland and Victoria, and despite breaking a thumb mid-season, finished with 698 runs at 63.45, from 11 innings.

So there should be no doubt: Usman Khawaja can bat. He almost radiates the same power as team-mate and fellow southpaw Phillip Hughes, but in a far silkier, more upright and technically correct package. He resembles a left-handed Michael Clarke, which is not surprising given that he also went to Westfield Sports High School. He is also an outstanding fieldsman, and a qualified pilot to boot.

What is most interesting about Khawaja's selection on the current tour is over whom he has vaulted. The selectors have rewarded him for two pretty good seasons at Shield level, but in doing so, they have not opted for the best player - the best in the statistical sense.

Michael Klinger of South Australia has dominated the Sheffield Shield (not to mention the Ford Ranger Cup) for the last two seasons: 1203 first-class runs at 70.76 in 2008-09, and 886 runs at 63.28 in 2009-10. Put those two seasons together and you have 2089 runs at 63.30. That's 866 more runs than Khawaja over the same period, and a much higher average than the New South Welshman's 53.17.

But Klinger is 30 years old.

The selectors gave Test debuts to Michael Hussey and Marcus North when they were 30 (North was a couple of months shy of that birthday), citing the fact that long years of state cricket had made them ready for the international game. Clearly they did not want to do the same with Klinger, opting for a much younger player, despite the former's excellent technique, ability to bat both defensively and attackingly, and sheer weight of runs.

Victoria's David Hussey is also entitled to feel aggrieved, after his 970 runs at 57 last summer, and his long international apprenticeship at ODI and T20 level. If you look at Hussey's last two seasons at Sheffield Shield level, he has more runs than Khawaja - 1492 - but at a lesser average, of 48.13. But Hussey, D. is 33 years old.

Khawaja's Australia A captain, Tasmania's George Bailey, also had a good case, I think, to be considered next middle-order cab off the rank. Bailey has had a very sound apprenticeship at first-class level, over five seasons. Bailey's leadership qualities have been recognised with the captaincies of both Tasmania and Australia A; his last two seasons have generated 1365 runs at 37.92; and he is still young, at 27. But the four years that Khawaja has on him proved telling.

Tasmania's Ed Cowan would also have put his name in the frame with a breakout season in 2009-10, racking up 957 first-class runs at 53.16, but he is an opener, and a year older than Bailey, at 28.

Western Australia's Shaun Marsh and Victorian captain Cameron White, both aged 27, are also regularly mentioned in dispatches, but at this stage this pair look to have been pigeonholed as short-format specialists in the international set-up (White has played four Tests as an all-rounder, but is now playing as a specialist batsman.) But being part of the yellow-clad team is arguably better for their prospects than Klinger's situation, piling up Bradmanesque numbers in state cricket to no avail, like Father McKenzie, writing the words to a sermon that no-one will hear....no-one comes near.

The selectors have clearly made a statement with the selection of Khawaja: they're looking for a 10-year player. That's simply bad luck for the likes of Klinger and Hussey, who don't have the time in the bank, regardless of what mountains of runs they accumulate. Let's face it, if Klinger was not rewarded this time, on this tour, for doing exactly what the selectors have said batsmen have to do, over two outstanding seasons, he's not going to be - because he's considered too old.

With fellow New South Wales tyro Phillip Hughes injured after his 953-run summer, at 56, and a brief return to the Test frame before another (I think) harsh discarding, and international ODI representative Callum Ferguson of South Australia feeling his way back after a season out with injury, Khawaja has been anointed as the best young batting prospect in the land. A 10-year career is his for the taking, and he looks good enough to grab it.

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Bet on the cricket at TAB Sportsbet. (Usman Khawaja at $7 for Most Runs in first innings).