Cameron Green: The New Star of Australian Cricket Debuts

The young all-rounder from Western Australia, 21-year-old Cameron Green, is set to debut for Australia at the Adelaide Oval. His anticipated first appearance has generated great excitement. Here are some facts about him.

Highlighted Career

In first-class cricket, Green has demonstrated outstanding performance. He has accumulated 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 skill with the bat, scoring 87 and 121 runs 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 runs for his 33 wickets, including 5 for 24 in his first-class debut against Tasmania, against whom he also achieved his best mark of 6 for 30 in 2018. His career in the white ball format does not stand out as much, although he debuted in ODI a couple of weeks ago, but this is in a handful of matches: nine in List A and T20. It is with the red (and pink) ball that he is exciting everyone at the moment.

Great Expectations

Greg Chappell has called him “the best since Ricky Ponting” in recent interviews. In June, Chappell selected him at number 6 in the test team. “For me, Cameron Green is the next superstar of Australian cricket,” he 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.”

Concern about the injury

A worrying moment was when he received a blow to the head from a Jasprit Bumrah delivery at the SCG. He had to leave the field and was substituted from the match due to concussion, in addition to undergoing 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 overcome all Cricket Australia protocols to be able to debut.

The all-terrain vehicle that Australia has dreamed of?

Perhaps, but with some caution. This has nothing to do with talent, but with release restrictions due to a stress fracture in the back 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 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 loosened. “I think he will bowl a bit more than that, once you are selected in a test match, you are ready to play. That said, we don’t expect him to bowl a large number of overs with the attack we have”.

Tim Paine

Debut Before Expected?

In a way, yes. In fact, a few weeks ago it seemed unlikely that he would be part of the starting eleven at the beginning of the series despite having been included in the expanded squad. The preferred 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 in the number 6 position. This is not to say that Green does not deserve it. With his 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.