The all-rounder has stayed away from bowling in Test since March last year
Australia might have swept West Indies in their backyard by winning the recent Test series 3-0, but there are still problems that need to be addressed with their batting and bowling.
The 2023 World Test Championship winners have shuffled their top-order in recent times after Sam Konstas’ place as the next opening partner to Usman Khawaja was under doubt.
They played with T20 regular Travis Head who performed well against Sri Lanka but Head had always done well while batting the middle-order.
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While the Konstas question was a new one, the Aussies had to deal with the dwindling form of Marnus Labuschagne who had smashed 10 hundreds in the space of two calendar years, but hadn’t scored a Test hundred since The Ashes 2023.
The management thought they could kill two birds with one stone and put Labuschagne to open the innings in the WTC 2025 final to prove himself. Meanwhile, their returning star all-rounder Cameron Green was deemed to be their future No.3.
Green and Labuschagne both failed in the WTC final as Australia fell flat in their title defence against Australia.
Despite this dilemma, Cummins maintained that Green will be given numerous chances at No.3 while Labuschagne was dropped for the Caribbean tour. Konstas was back to open the innings with Khawaja as Australia put on gritty displays in all second innings of the Test series to complete a clean-sweep.
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Green, who made his international debut as a fast-bowling all-rounder, was in the team as a specialist batter due to a lower back surgery he underwent last year.
However, he managed to record scores of 3, 15, 26, 52, 46 and 42 in the three Tests which were not crucial to the overall result Australia’s middle and lower-order did all the heavy lifting.
With The Ashes 2025-26 just three months away, Green’s position in the playing XI will be questioned as Australia are expecting a tough fight from England who had just drawn 2-2 against India in a spectacular series.
Speaking after the first ODI against South Africa at Cairns, Green revealed that he is ready to bowl again in Australia’s red-ball competition Sheffield Shield.
“Potentially get 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,” said the Western Australia all-rounder.
Green said he will be focusing on his red-ball cricket in lead up to the Ashes but Australia have white-ball series against New Zealand and India in the next three months before that.
