Cameron Green, the 21-year-old young all-rounder from Western Australia, is set to make his Australian debut at the Adelaide Oval. His appearance is one of the most anticipated in recent times. Here are some details about him.
Highlighted Career
In the realm of first-class matches, his performance has been outstanding. He has achieved five centuries in 21 matches, including a career-high of 197 earlier this season against New South Wales. His batting average is 55.04. A game against Queensland at the Gabba in November 2019 demonstrated his potential with the bat, scoring 87 and 121 not out, batting at numbers 8 and 9. That was also the last match in which he bowled for a year.
With the ball, his average of 21.72 in his 33 wickets includes 5 for 24 in his first-class debut against Tasmania, against whom he also achieved his career-best figures of 6 for 30 in 2018. His one-day match career is not as prominent, although he debuted in ODIs a couple of weeks ago, but this is based on a handful of matches: nine in List A and T20. It is with the red (and pink) ball that he is generating great expectation.
Great Expectations
It could be said that yes. Greg Chappell has described him as the “best since Ricky Ponting” in recent interviews.
For me, Cameron Green is the next Australian cricket superstar. He is a true promise with the bat and ball, but I think his future lies as a batsman who can offer some quality overs. Cameron is a batsman with exceptional talent. At 6 feet 7 inches, he could become something very special. I would put him to bat at number 6 to start, but I think number 4 is his long-term position. The sooner he plays at this level, the sooner he will become the player he should be.
Greg Chappell
The recent injury
The moment was worrying when he received a blow to the head from a Jasprit Bumrah drive at the SCG. He had to leave the field and was substituted for concussion, in addition to undergoing scans that ruled out any fracture. Fortunately, the blow did not cause major damage and it seems that he will comply with all Cricket Australia protocols to be able to debut.
The all-terrain vehicle dreamed of by Australia?
Perhaps, but with caution. This has nothing to do with his talent, but rather with the restrictions on his bowling due to a stress fracture in his back that he suffered last year. He has worked on his action with WA bowling coach Matt Mason and has so far been limited to four-over spells. This season he has not bowled more than eight overs in a day in match conditions. However, he has shown the ability to take wickets: he took two in the second innings against the Indians at Drummoyne Oval and produced a beauty to dismiss Shubman Gill before his injury at the SCG.
Tim Paine also suggested that the bowling restrictions will be relaxed. “I think he’ll bowl a few more than that, once you’re selected in a Test match, you’re ready to play. That said, we don’t expect him to bowl a huge amount of overs with the attack we have.”
A debut sooner than expected?
In a way, yes. In fact, a few weeks ago it seemed unlikely that he would enter the starting eleven at the beginning of the series despite having been named in the expanded squad. The preferred route was for Australia to maintain its traditional balance of six batsmen, a wicket keeper and four bowlers. However, recently the plans have been altered due to the injuries of Warner and Pucovksi, which has led Australia to reorganize the batting order (at least for one test) and that has created the opening at number 6. This is not to say that Green does not deserve it. Due to his current form, it could easily be said that he is among the top six batsmen in Australia, and Justin Langer and national selector Trevor Hohns have said that he is worthy of selection just for his batting.
