Cameron Green is in a race against the clock to recover from a frustrating finger injury ahead of the first Test against India, with the Australian all-rounder unlikely to bowl in the series opener in Nagpur.
The West Australian broke his finger during the Boxing Day Test against South Africa, where he claimed 5-27 and scored 51 not out in another impressive all-round display.
Green hopes a specialist will confirm his finger has healed on Monday, but the 23-year-old’s challenge will be building up his bowling workloads before the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
The right-armer has not bowled at full fitness since Boxing Day, and with the Nagpur Test set to get underway in just 10 days, it’s unlikely he will be available to roll the arm over in the series opener.
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“Where he’s positioned at the moment, his biggest challenge is bowling,” Australian coach Andrew McDonald told reporters on Sunday afternoon.
“There is a lack of loading there, and it’s one of the key reasons around us getting into this camp … to make sure that we’re ready to go for the rigours of what the bowling unit are going to encompass.
“His bowling will be his greatest challenge. He’s got to consult with the surgeon again tomorrow … where he should be given a tick of approval that that bone has healed.
“After that, it should be just building him up and we’ll see how he goes each session. Building confidence is the main thing, setting him up to succeed if he was to play in that first Test match.”
Australia is more than willing to select Green as a specialist batter in Nagpur, where the pitch is expected to be a raging turner. The tall right-hander was named Player of the Match during one of Australia’s most recent Test in the sub-continent, scoring a classy 77 against Sri Lanka on a turning pitch in Galle.
“We value his batting first and foremost really,” McDonald said.
“He’s a batter in our top six and we value that. His bowling is a bonus, a very nice bonus.”
Specialist batters Peter Handscomb and Matthew Renshaw, both coming off strong form at domestic level, are also on standby if required.
However, McDonald confessed that selecting three strike spinners for the Nagpur Test was “not realistic” if Green could not bowl, creating an intriguing selection dilemma ahead of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Ashton Agar, Mitchell Swepson and Todd Murphy are all vying to partner with Nathan Lyon in the starting XI, and the Nagpur pitch, where Jason Krejza famously took 12 wickets on Test debut in 2008, is expected to be a turning minefield.
Last week, Vidarbha successfully defended a 72-target against Gujarat in the Ranji Trophy, with nine of the fourth-innings wickets falling to spin.
“It will be conditions based, so we’ll wait until we get there,” McDonald said.
“We feel like we’ve got really good coverage in the four spinners that we’ve picked, also the supporting acts in Travis Head, Marnus (Labuschagne) and Steve Smith as well. So we feel like we’ve got some good options there.
“That final combination will, in all honesty, probably be (determined) 2-3 days out from the first Test match when we land in Nagpur.”
Meanwhile, Australian paceman Mitchell Starc, who has already been ruled out of the first Test, is seemingly on track to return for the second match in Delhi.
The left-armer, who also sustained a finger injury during last month’s Boxing Day Test, bowled at close to full speed in North Sydney on Sunday morning, albeit with his wounded finger heavily strapped. He is required to wear a splint that protects damaged ligaments on his bowling hand for another two weeks.
“(Starc) looks pretty good. Pretty much near top speed, which is staggering really,” McDonald said.
“The guard needs to stay on. It’s protecting against the knock that would re-injure that ligament. That’s why it’s a clear cut deadline to mitigate against any of that risk.
“We can’t accelerate that, which is probably a little frustrating for Mitch, because he feels so good.
“But the good thing about that is when he does get out of the splint, all his workloads are going to be up to speed, and it will be pretty much straight into that second Test.”
The first Test between India and Australia gets underway at Nagpur’s Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium on Thursday, February 9, with the first ball scheduled for 3pm AEDT.
