Cameron Green: The New Australian Cricket Promise Ready for His Debut
The 21-year-old all-rounder, Cameron Green, from Western Australia, is set to make his debut for Australia at the Adelaide Oval. It is expected to be one of the most anticipated first appearances in recent times. Here are some details about him.
Outstanding Professional Career
In first-class cricket, Green has shown exceptional performance. He has five centuries in 21 matches, including a personal best of 197 runs earlier this season against New South Wales. His batting average is 55.04. A match against Queensland at the Gabba in November 2019, demonstrated his potential with the bat, scoring 87 and 121 not out, batting at positions 8 and 9. That was also the last match in which he bowled for a year. With the ball, he averages 21.72 runs for his 33 wickets, including 5 for 24 in his first-class debut against Tasmania, a team against which he also achieved his best figures of 6 for 30 in 2018.
Although his career in one-day matches doesn’t stand out as much, Green made his ODI debut a couple of weeks ago, but has only played a few matches: nine in both List A and T20. It’s with the red (and pink) ball that he’s generating great expectation at the moment.
Great Expectations
You could say so. Greg Chappell has called him “the best since Ricky Ponting” in recent interviews. In June, Chappell selected him in the number 6 position of the Test team, in a hypothetical scenario where Australia would play both Test and T20I on the same day.
“For me, Cameron Green is the next Australian cricket superstar,” Chappell said. “He’s a genuine prospect with the bat and ball, but I think his future is 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
Concern about the Recent Injury
There was a worrying moment when Green was hit on the head by a bouncer from Jasprit Bumrah at the SCG. He immediately left the field and was substituted from the match due to concussion and also underwent tests that ruled out any fractures. Fortunately, the blow did not cause major damage (unlike Will Pucovski, Green has no history of concussions) and it seems that he will be able to comply with all Cricket Australia protocols to be able to debut.
The All-Terrain Vehicle Australia Needs?
Perhaps, but with caution. This has nothing to do with his talent, but with the restrictions on his release 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 so far he has 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 claimed 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 bit more, once you’re selected for 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.”
Early Debut?
In a way, yes. In fact, a few weeks ago it seemed unlikely that he would be part of the XI at the start of the series, despite having been named in the extended squad. The preferred route was for Australia to maintain its traditional balance of six batsmen, a wicketkeeper and four bowlers. However, recently, plans were altered due to injuries to 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. That’s not to say that Green doesn’t deserve it. With the current form, it could easily be said that he is among Australia’s top six batsmen, and Justin Langer and national selector Trevor Hohns have said that he is worthy of being selected for his batting alone.
