Cameron Green, the 21-year-old all-rounder from Western Australia, is set to debut for Australia at the Adelaide Oval. This is one of the most anticipated first appearances in recent times. Here are some details about him.
How has your career been so far?
In first-class cricket, he has been outstanding. He has accumulated five centuries in 21 matches, including a personal best of 197 earlier this season against New South Wales. The most recent was against the Indians last week, and he maintains a batting average of 55.04. In a match against Queensland at the Gabba in November 2019, he demonstrated what he could achieve with the bat, scoring 87 and 121 not out, batting in positions 8 and 9. That was also the last match in which he bowled for a year. With the ball, he averages 21.72 for his 33 wickets, including 5 for 24 in his first-class debut against Tasmania, against whom he also took his best figures of 6 for 30 in 2018.
His white-ball cricket career isn’t as prominent, although he debuted in ODIs a couple of weeks ago, but that’s in just a handful of matches, nine in List A and T20. It’s with the red (and pink) ball that he’s exciting everyone at the moment.
Are there high expectations placed on him?
You could say so. Greg Chappell has called him the “best since Ricky Ponting” in recent interviews and in June, Chappell picked him at number 6 in the immediate test team.
For me, Cameron Green is the next Australian cricket superstar. He is a real 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 uncommon 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
What about the recent injury?
That was a bad moment when he was hit on the head by a Jasprit Bumrah drive at the SCG. He immediately retired from the field and was substituted from the match due to concussion and also underwent scans that ruled out any fracture. Fortunately, the blow has not caused major damage (unlike Will Pucovski, Green has no history of concussion) and it seems he will pass all Cricket Australia protocols to be able to debut.
Is it the all-terrain vehicle that Australia has dreamed of?
It could be, but with a bit of caution. That has nothing to do with talent, but rather he has had restricted bowling loads due to a stress fracture in his back that he suffered last year. He has undergone work 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 still shown the ability to pick up 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 eased. “I think he’ll bowl a few more, once you’re selected in a Test match, you’re ready to play. Having said that, we don’t expect him to bowl a huge amount of overs with the attack we have.”
Has his debut arrived earlier than expected?
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 expanded squad. The preferred route was for Australia to maintain its traditional balance of six batsmen, a wicket-keeper and four bowlers. However, recently, 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. That is not to say that Green does not deserve it. In 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 just for his batting.
