Cameron Green, Australia’s all-rounder, shared that he is not sure that either he will bat at No. 3 or not in the upcoming Ashes, but he confirmed that he will re-join bowling in the Sheffield Shield season leading into Test summer, rather than at ODI and T20I series against India.
Green, aged 26, participated as a batsman in each of their last four Test matches across the World Test Championship final and also the three-Test tour of the Caribbean by playing at No. 3, while he continued his recovery from back surgery in October 2024.
After a tough start and making scores of 4, 0, 3, 15, 26, 52, 46 and 42, his chances to play at No. 3 increased. Within the Australia camp, his last four innings were appreciated especially the 46 and 42 in Kingston, these were the second and third highest scores in a game where only four players scored more than 24.
On Thursday, while communicating in Mackay before the second ODI against South Africa, Green said that he is not sure whether he will continue at No. 3 or not, for the first Ashes Test in Perth in November, where the declaration of Australia’s top three batting order remained uncertain.
“You never know,” Green said. “I think there’s certainly a lot of guys that can fill that role. I’m really proud that I was able to do a role up there. But, yeah, wait and see.”
If he is not selected to play at No. 3 in the Ashes, then the structure of Australia’s top six will be changed entirely.
Where Steven Smith and Travis Head will play at No. 4 and No.5 respectively. When Green returns to bowling, then the No. 6 spot of all-rounder Beau Webster will be under pressure. Usman Khawaja is set to play as an opener but Sam Konstas is not sure that either he will continue as an opener or not because selectors are considering Jake Weatherald (more experienced Tasmania opener), according to George Bailey, the chairman of selectors.
Whereas the recent form of Marnus Labuschagne is a great concern whether he retains it or not before the start of Ashes.
After the tough tour of the Caribbean, Konstas was under criticism but Green said that it was really very difficult to play on West Indies pitches.
“It was such tough wickets, especially for the batters, so to try and get out the series unscathed I think was a good effort,” Green said. “There wasn’t much to take away from that. I think it was just trying to survive, really, and find a way to score some runs. Yeah, I don’t think we’ll be playing on many wickets quite like that.”
After recovering from back surgery and joining training sessions from June, Green is now ready to join his team as a bowler.
“So I think that potentially might be the way to go down, especially with working my way back with bowling. Potentially getting a few more overs over a few more days might be the best way to go about it.”
“I’m not quite certain on what match [I’ll return to bowling], but I’m feeling really good, in a really good spot. It’s exciting being back bowling at a reasonable intensity.
“It’s been a long road back.”
