Cameron Green is seeing them so well at the moment that Josh Hazlewood contemplated an unusual measure of protection when bowling to him at training.
“It was a bit scary actually, the first net session in India,” Hazelwood said. “I felt like wearing a helmet bowling at Cam. He is so imposing, and he is such a big guy. The full face of the bat back towards you, it is a bit like bowling to Mitch Marsh when he is in form.”
Unsurprisingly, Green’s net form translated to superb performances for Australia in their three-game T20 series in India. With just one T20 international under his belt, the 23-year-old filled in at opener to cover for David Warner, and belted scores of 61 from 30 balls, five off four and 52 off 21.
Australia narrowly lost the series 2-1 but Green’s bold hitting – with a strike rate of 247 – was yet another demonstration of his undeniable talent, coming after a similar breakout effort in the one-day series against New Zealand earlier in the month, and his continued improvement in Test cricket since his debut in December, 2020.
“We are starting to just not get surprised, whenever he just takes another step up, he looks at home straight away,” Test captain Pat Cummins said. “New role, opening the batting and to take it on the way he did and play with bravery, that’s what you want to see from any young player.”
In a sign of the depth in Australian cricket, Green will not be sighted in the T20 World Cup, given he missed the cut for the 15-man squad named in August.
Seeing them well: Cameron Green middles another one against India.Credit:AP
“To have someone like him not in your team, it shows how good we are. We’re the defending world champions for a reason,” Marsh told reporters this week.
Green was retained in the squad for next week’s T20 series against the West Indies in Queensland but likely won’t pad up, with priority given to the returning Marsh, Warner, Marcus Stoinis and Mitch Starc, who are all World Cup bound.
Cummins said it wouldn’t surprise him to see Green called into the World Cup squad due to injury, but a part of the Test skipper can see the upside of the talented all-rounder – who is now a legitimate three-format player – having a breather.
The calendar over the next 12 months contains huge Test series against South Africa, India and England, and the 50-over World Cup.
Another six flies off the bat of Cameron Green against India.Credit:Getty
“Even the last couple of summers, it is one of my first thoughts whenever I bowl him [in Tests] is we don’t want to burn him,” Cummins said.
“He is young and I have been on that side. It has been a huge win on the medical side of things to have him play as much cricket as he has over the last few years. Fortunately he can fall back on his batting, if he is not bowling. Now he is in and around three formats, it becomes even more important.
“He is someone who loves playing, so even when he goes back to WA we have to manage that. Because we have 15 Test matches in the next six months, plus World Cup, so lots of cricket.”
Green’s dominant performance in India will undoubtedly attract big-dollar offers in the IPL, where all-rounders are prized, and that would add more to his workload.
“It is one of those ones, you can’t blame anyone for going in [to the IPL draft]. He is going to have huge demand on him, wherever he plays. It’s a big decision for him,” Cummins said.
While most Australian players prioritise Test cricket over the myriad T20 opportunities across the globe, Cummins believes Cricket Australia should be “proactive” in ensuring that remains the case.
“Whenever there is a Test tour on, that’s where all of us players want to be,” Cummins said.
“But I don’t think we can take for granted that’s always going to be the case and we should be proactive in looking after the some of the players with maybe structured contracts, or managing different players.”
