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Opinion
After Mitchell Marsh’s Headingley heroics, Cameron Green’s ability to turn the promise of brilliance into tangible on-field results has come under increasing scrutiny amidst Australia’s fourth Test selection dilemma.
His relatively modest Test returns in spite of numerous opportunities and near unlimited backing are a stark contrast to the way that Marsh superbly seized the opening that Green’s hamstring strain presented in the third Test.
Across 23 Tests Green has only notched one century, whereas at Leeds Marsh struck a game-changing, explosive hundred in his first Test innings for almost four years.
Yet despite Cameron’s fairly inconsistent performances in the baggy green, the selectors mustn’t give in to any possible temptation to sideline him in Manchester, even if that requires the harshest of snubs for a red-hot Marsh.
Before Green’s 198-centimetre frame came on the scene, the Australian Test side had long been crying out for a world-class all-rounder.
To then drop a very rare player who undeniably has the potential to fit that billing and whom so much has been invested in – all for a theoretical short-term gain – would be nonsensical.
(Photo by Daniel Pockett/Getty Images)
Since Green’s debut in 2020 Australia haven’t won a Test without him, and although correlation definitely doesn’t equate to causation, surely that statistic is some kind of testimony to the value that his outrageous gully fielding, evident batting knack and 140 km/h pace and bounce add to the team.
Under Bazball, England have reaped the benefits of backing players who fit their philosophy to the hilt. With his prodigal ability as well as his youth, Green deserves the continued support of the dressing room to give his generational talent the greatest chance of true fulfilment.
And for all the talk of a middling start to his Test career and of what Green could go on to achieve, his current Test batting and bowling averages are only two runs fewer than that of bonafide all-round great Ben Stokes.
The last eight months have been the all-rounder’s most fruitful in the Test arena so far, during which he’s racked up a maiden century, five-fer and man of the match award.
It’s worth bearing in mind that Green’s underwhelming English summer to date has come straight on the back of a 16-match IPL stint.
Even for the most experienced of campaigners, transitioning from such a polar opposite environment to the unique challenge of red-ball cricket in England would be a stern test, let alone for a man who has never experienced it before.
Now that Green has had time to re-adjust to the rigours of Test cricke,t as well as to acclimatise with England’s green-tinged wickets, overcast skies and the Dukes ball, you would expect him to rediscover his previously burgeoning form in the final two Tests.
In the longer term, Australia’s ageing team can only gain from continuing to nurture the 24-year-old’s gifts by persisting with him in Manchester.
After all, the other options are an off spinner who has played just 13 first class matches, a batter clinging on to the remnants of his career or a man with one of the worst Test batting averages of a No.6 in history.
Green’s blooming flower will surely bear more fruit than any of those alternatives, both in this series and in the future.
The selectors just need to continue watering it.
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