File image of Cameron Green© AFP
Australia’s fast-bowling all-rounder Cameron Green could miss the all-important Border-Gavaskar Trophy against India, starting from November 22 in Perth, due to a back surgery. Green was diagnosed with a stress fracture in his lower back which cut short his participation in Australia’s ODI series against England. A report in cricket.com.au says the allrounder met with Australian team officials late on Thursday night to discuss his options and has been presented with a choice of surgery or rehab after several days of consultations and analysis.
“Green is expected to decide within the coming days whether to go in for a similar medical procedure on his spine to the one that speedsters James Pattinson, Jason Behrendorff and Ben Dwarshuis have all previously undergone.
“The operation, performed by pioneering Christchurch surgeons Grahame Inglis and Rowan Schouten and which involves screws and titanium wire to bind vertebrae together, would rule Green out for months,” said the report.
Green, who debuted in Test cricket in 2020, was the player of the match in the first Test against New Zealand at Wellington in March after scoring a career-best knock of 174 not out. In 28 Tests, Green has a batting average of 48.57, apart from picking 35 wickets.
If Green decides to go for the surgery, considering he has a previous history of back stress fractures as a teenager, Australia would need a new number six batter and rejig their batting order for the highly-anticipated series against India, as well as for the tour for Sri Lanka.
In his absence, Mitchell Marsh may have to shoulder bowling workload, while Steve Smith could be back to batting at number four. Marcus Harris, Cameron Bancroft, Matthew Renshaw, Nic Maddinson or teenaged batting prodigy Sam Konstas also come into the mix for opening the batting alongside Usman Khawaja.
Australia have another three Sheffield Shield matches and two ‘A’ team games against India ‘A’ at Brisbane and Mackay before the first Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test begins on November 22 at Perth Stadium.
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