Cameron Green: The New Promise of Australian Cricket Ready for Debut
Western Australia’s young all-rounder, 21-year-old Cameron Green, is set to make his debut for the Australian team at the Adelaide Oval. This is one of the most anticipated appearances in recent times. Here’s a little about him.A Promising Career
In first-class cricket, Green has shown exceptional performance. He has five centuries in 21 matches, including a maximum of 197 runs earlier this season against New South Wales. His batting average is 55.04. In a match against Queensland at the Gabba in November 2019, he demonstrated his worth with the bat, scoring 87 and 121 runs 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.
His white-ball cricket career isn’t as prominent, although he debuted in ODIs a couple of weeks ago. However, this is only from 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.Great Expectations
You could say so. Greg Chappell has called him the “best since Ricky Ponting” in recent interviews. Chappell picked him at number 6 in the test team.
“For me, Cameron Green is the next Australian cricket superstar. He’s 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 1.98 meters, 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 ChappellThe Concern About the Injury
There was a worrying moment when he was hit on the head by a Jasprit Bumrah bouncer at the SCG. He immediately left the field and was substituted for concussion, and also underwent scans that ruled out any fractures. Fortunately, the blow has not caused significant 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.The Dream SUV?
Perhaps, but with caution. This has nothing to do with talent, but with the release restrictions 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 still 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 would 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.”An Anticipated Debut?
In a way, yes. In fact, a few weeks ago it seemed unlikely that he would enter the XI at the start of the series despite having been named in the expanded squad. The favorite route was for Australia to maintain its traditional balance of six batsmen, a wicketkeeper 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 vacancy at number 6. That is not to say that Green does not deserve it. In his current form, it could easily be said that he is among Australia’s top six batsmen, with Justin Langer and national selector Trevor Hohns having said that he is worthy of selection just for his batting.
