Cameron Green is expected to be available to play against India as a batter from the start of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy showdown next month, with the possibility he may be bowling again by the end of what shapes as an arduous five-Test series.
Cricket Australia is set to formally announce the nature of Green’s back injury later this week. But, according to three cricket sources who wished to remain anonymous in order to speak freely, planning has already commenced to work around Green’s likely inability to bowl until the Test summer is well-advanced.
Star Australian all-rounder Cameron Green.Credit: Getty Images
While he was ruled out of this week’s opening Sheffield Shield round and is highly unlikely to appear in round two, there is the possibility of Green turning out as a batter for Australia A against India A in a game at the MCG in early November.
Regardless of his all-round status, the 25-year-old Green is seen as the youthful centrepiece of an ageing top six against India, as evidenced by his move up to number four following David Warner’s retirement last summer. Steve Smith’s switch to opener was made partly to accommodate Green.
With five Tests tightly packed into little more than six weeks from late November, the change-bowling slack will need to be taken up by Mitch Marsh, who has been working up his fitness on a program geared for that purpose.
Nathan Lyon can also be expected to bowl heavy-duty overs for Australia, and has the benefit of excellent records in Perth, Adelaide and Brisbane where the first three Tests are to be played.
Former Australian team doctor Peter Brukner said that a back stress injury for Green would not prevent him from batting or fielding in Test matches once any initial pain had subsided and the bone began to heal. Green felt discomfort in his back after the third ODI against England in Durham, and after scans in London caught the first available plane home to Perth.
“As soon as there’s any hint of back pain at all, they whip them off for an MRI and see whether there’s any bone edema, which is the first sign there’s some stress there,” Brukner told this masthead. “That shows up fairly early in the process, so if you pick that up it’s an opportunity to back them off, rather than pushing through it until it gets to a fracture.”
When Green made his Test debut in 2020 he did so on restricted bowling loads of about four overs an innings, and he may be in line for a similar workload by the end of the India Tests.
Melbourne and Sydney have traditionally been the Test matches where Australia’s selectors look more ardently for fifth bowling options, both because of the slower nature of the pitches and the fact that the matches typically fall at the back end of long series.
“The issue is the load, and as the bone recovers you gradually increase the load through the bone,” Brukner said. “The load comes mainly from bowling – batting and fielding don’t put a huge load on that part of the body, so it’s feasible that once the pain settles down you can bat and field without too many problems and feel fine.
Michael Neser took wickets with his first two balls of the Sheffield Shield season.Credit: Getty Images
“It’s just that if you were to bowl 10 overs you’d probably break down again. So it’s a case of slowly building up the load so the bone basically adjusts to the load and gets stronger. There’s a bit of an art to it.”
Without Green, the likes of Scott Boland and Michael Neser will be in line as reserve options. Neser made the perfect start to the season for Queensland at the WACA Ground, nipping out Cameron Bancroft and Jayden Goodwin with the first two balls of the match, before following up by finding an edge from Marsh.
Bancroft’s exit contrasted with a sparkling hundred on the other side of the country by fellow opener Marcus Harris, who navigated a tricky morning session at a wintry Junction Oval before skating to three figures from 146 balls and ultimately reaching 143, watched by national selector Tony Dodemaide. Victorian skipper Peter Handscomb also scored 129 as the home side reached 7-330 at stumps.
Also notable was a crisp hundred by highly-regarded NSW opener Sam Konstas, 19, who handled a strong South Australian seam attack with plenty of class in Sydney to make his first Shield century a big one – 152 in all – as selection chair George Bailey watched on.
As is the way in 2024, Konstas had not even reached 50 when one of his princely cover drives was captured by an Instagram reel. There will be more of those to come.
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