Cameron Green wants to spend the summer rediscovering the rhythm of red-ball cricket, despite a cluttered schedule making for a potentially difficult path back to the Test team.
Green will play his first Sheffield Shield game for Western Australia in two years on Tuesday, facing Queensland at the Gabba in the last round before Christmas.
Another red-ball fixture awaits for the Prime Minister’s XI on the following Wednesday, playing alongside fellow Test hopefuls Cameron Bancroft, Matt Renshaw and Marcus Harris.
Green has already made the call to skip this summer’s Big Bash League, admitting he was cooked after several long stints on the road this year.
Assuming he is not part of Australia’s Test squad, he will spend that time recovering while it also gives him a chance to work on red-ball cricket in the nets.
Cricket’s cluttered schedule does, however, make it difficult for the 24-year-old prodigy to knock the door down for a Test recall.
(Photo by Daniel Pockett/Getty Images)
The two matches in the next fortnight shape as his only red-ball cricket before Australia name their squad for next year’s tour of New Zealand.
Depending on white-ball selection, it’s possible he could miss further Shield matches after Christmas, as well as part of the start of next summer before home Tests against India.
“I’m obviously still learning as a cricketer. So I’m not too stressed about selection at the moment,” Green told AAP at the start of the summer.
“There’s a lot of cricket, a lot of things can happen with injuries or form.
“At the same time, I can use it as a in a pretty positive way. I can spend more time in the nets, really trying to get that rhythm of red-ball cricket.
“If you’re not playing the Test match, you might be able to play another Shield game.
“There are obviously a few silver linings you can take out of it and try and improve your skills and just be better for it if you get the chance.”
(Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images)
Green estimates that it takes longer to get into the groove of a Test innings when coming off white-ball cricket, something he admits he has to improve on.
The allrounder’s year began with a maiden Test century in India and a big first IPL with the Mumbai Indians, before relinquishing his spot to Mitch Marsh during the Ashes.
His four-month Indian stint meant Green spent only two nights in his own bed between the end of January and start of August.
But while others such as Pat Cummins opted to skip the IPL fearing burnout, Green insisted he had no regrets.
“I knew what was coming up. But you’ve still got to go through it,” Green said.
“By the end I was pretty cooked. But you can’t really make excuses because you put your own hand up for the IPL.
“It was a tough six months, but with a lot of success throughout it. So no regrets at all.”
Doctor Rotcod
Roar Rookie
Meant contemporary.
Don Freo
Roar Rookie
That's because they aren't as good as our 4th side...or our 3rd best or the second best or best.
Doctor Rotcod
Roar Rookie
Maybe plateaued would be more accurate. Green might take Khawaja's spot. Who has whispered the word 'retirement'. Can graft, can blast. He might be the only recent player to open batting and bowling.
Doctor Rotcod
Roar Rookie
He was bowling to two Test players,though. No great achievement.
Barb Dwyer
Roar Rookie
And yet no other nation could do this.
Don Freo
Roar Rookie
A Drover's Dog would have won it. We can win it with our 4th eleven. It just wasn't our best eleven.
Barb Dwyer
Roar Rookie
Is that the Cummins / McDonald who won the test championship, retained the Ashes and led the winning of the World Cup? Green is great, however Cummins / McDonald have more than proved themselves. You can only put 11 players on the ground at a time. Green is young and his time will come.
Don Freo
Roar Rookie
I think you'll find Green will be our premier batsman by the end of this test summer...if he gets past the clique.
Don Freo
Roar Rookie
That didn't lose him his test place. He sat a game out with a minor niggle and Marsh grabbed the spot with both hands. He wasn't dropped; Marsh just took his chance. Green scored a ton in India after the IPL. All of Green's national issues are Cummins/McDonald related.
Don Freo
Roar Rookie
He gets a bat and a bowl in IPL too.
Don Freo
Roar Rookie
Green was a teenager when he had those injuries. It's over 3 years since then. Only the press and social media think that is an issue. A few folk, like Pat Cummins, have forgotten that he's a bowler, but most are just waiting for him to get on the field. His first 4 overs today went for only 5 runs. Great to see him get a bowl within the first 10 overs.
Gamechanger
Roar Rookie
He peaked in 2019 in England.
Gamechanger
Roar Rookie
Even Maxwell wants to play MORE TESTS! “ Having that taste of just being in the Test squad [against Sri Lanka in 2022] was so exciting and reinvigorated and reminded myself of where I want to be,' he said at the time. 'It's something that I've made no secret about, that I really want to play Test cricket again.'”- A Prentice Daily Mail 11/11. They love test cricket and the baggy green is the pinnacle.
Gamechanger
Roar Rookie
Thanks for alerting me. My oversight
Gamechanger
Roar Rookie
When Lillee was rehabilitated after stress fractures he had a modified run up , but he still had a decent workload. I just don’t get what they are doing with Green with his bowling. If he has recovered don’t overprotect him.
Opeo
Roar Rookie
Fair enough, Green can wait for Smith to retire with the condition that Smith keeps making runs. Even then, if Smith hits a red ball slump at the start of the test series against Pakistan, Smith’s record is such that Green would be waiting AT LEAST 15 months for him to be dropped. It is not just Warner, Australia for years has been reluctant to drop failing test stars. Green could be back in the test team by January if he has a few good innings for WA and/or Australia A.
Don Freo
Roar Rookie
Why? No player should nominate their use-by date. (You get really excited when I post, don't you?)
Opeo
Roar Rookie
Yeah, or Green can wait for Smith to retire.
Don Freo
Roar Rookie
Smith is very close to the end. He hasn't been a world beater for a long time.
Don Freo
Roar Rookie
This is the key. A spells that go for more than 3 overs.