Cameron Green: The New Promise of Australian Cricket Ready to Debut
Western Australia’s young all-rounder, 21-year-old Cameron Green, is set to make his debut for Australia at the Adelaide Oval. His first appearance is one of the most anticipated in recent times. Here are some details about him.
Highlighted Career
In first-class cricket, his performance has been outstanding. Green has accumulated five centuries in 21 matches, including a career-high of 197 earlier this season against New South Wales. His batting average is 55.04. Recently, he played against the Indians last week. A match against Queensland at the Gabba in November 2019 demonstrated his potential with the bat, scoring 87 and 121 runs not out, batting in positions 8 and 9. That was the last game in which he bowled for a year. With the ball, he has an average of 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. Although he debuted in ODIs a couple of weeks ago, his career in this format spans few matches: nine in List A and T20.
Great Expectations
Greg Chappell has called him “the best since Ricky Ponting”.
“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 exceptional talent. At 6 feet 7 inches, he could become something very special. I would bat him 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 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 was taken off the field with a concussion and underwent tests that ruled out fractures. Fortunately, the blow did not cause major damage and it seems he will comply with Cricket Australia’s protocols for his debut.
The Dream Off-Roader?
Green has had restrictions on his release due to a stress fracture in his back 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 his ability to take wickets: he took two in the second innings against the Indians at Drummoyne Oval and produced a great play to dismiss Shubman Gill before his injury at the SCG.
Tim Paine suggested that the bowling restrictions will be relaxed. “I think he’ll bowl a little bit more than that, 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.”
An 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 included 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, plans have been altered recently 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 doesn’t deserve it. Based on 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 saying that he is worthy of being selected just for his batting.
