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Opinion
If one positive has come out of the rather underwhelming limited-overs series against Zimbabwe and New Zealand, followed by the T20 tour of India, it’s been the emergence of Cameron Green as an all-format beast.
We already know how good he is going to be in the longer format of the game but until these series we hadn’t really seen that huge potential translate into results in the coloured clothing. That has now changed.
A maiden five-wicket haul against Zimbabwe, followed by a match-winning 89 not out against New Zealand, suggested we were starting to see the emergence of a three-format star. That’s just been confirmed.
Having never opened the batting before in any form of domestic cricket, Aaron Finch and Andrew McDonald promoted the young all-rounder to the top of the order in the absence of David Warner.
What we saw were two outstanding innings of 61 off 30 balls and 52 off 21 balls, and some of the cleanest and most destructive striking I’ve seen in a long time. Those long levers took the likes of Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshar Kumar to all parts, and at the very least should have certainly secured the big West Aussie a big pay day at the next IPL auction.
(Photo by Buddhika Weerasinghe/Getty Images)
However, it may have also created an awkward conundrum for Australia and their squad for the upcoming World Cup on home soil. Green isn’t in the squad, and that will now loom large over the rest of the build-up to the tournament.
Injured all-rounders Mitch Marsh and Marcus Stoinis are in the squad and will now be under huge pressure to perform strongly in the warm-up games against the West Indies and England, and by electing to open with Green, Finch has also placed himself under huge pressure, with a ready-made replacement waiting in the wings.
But, arguably, it shouldn’t even need to come to that. The Australian selectors have until October 9 to make a change and bring Green into the squad, and it should really be a no-brainer.
The selectors picked the squad before the start of the series in Cairns and Townsville and at the time they went off the information they had, and primarily backed in the same squad that won last year in the UAE, with the exception of inclusion Tim David, who also staked his claim in India.
They weren’t to predict the dramatic rise of Green would happen quite so fast, even though those in the know in Western Australia could’ve predicted it years ago. With this in mind the selectors shouldn’t be afraid to hurt feelings and put pride to one side.
They have a World Cup to win and Green is surely in the best possible XI Australia could field. In fact I’d go further than that, he may now be Australia’s most important player.
It’s a big call, but his bowling is streets ahead of Marsh or Stoinis, he is effectively a fifth front line bowler, which will allow the Australians to pick both Adam Zampa and Ashton Agar if conditions suit, whilst not dropping a batsman in the process.
He has also shown his versatility to bat anywhere in the order, his brutality up front in the powerplay has been impressive, but he equally has shown his middle over calmness and finishing qualities in ODI cricket. On top of this he is an absolute gun in the field.
You can bet your life that right now every other side in the World Cup is hoping Green doesn’t get a call-up to the Australian squad. He will add another dimension to the side that will go along way towards helping Australia defend the title on home soil.
With this in mind, here is my preferred T20 World Cup XI.
Warner
Green
M Marsh
Smith
Maxwell
David
Wade
Agar/Cummins
Starc
Hazelwood
Zampa
Other squad members: Finch, Inglis, Jhye Richardson
In: Green
Out: Stoinis
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