Cameron Green has done his part, Can Cricket Australia do their part too?

“Pulled away for four. What an amazing cricketer!” Brendon Julian was all excited in the commentray box the moment Cameron Green put his head down and smashed Mohammed Siraj towards deep mid-wicket for four. Tim Paine was at the other end, applauding the audacity of the stroke and the nonchalance with which the all-rounder sent […]
 
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Cameron Green has done his part, Can Cricket Australia do their part too?

“Pulled away for four. What an amazing cricketer!”

Brendon Julian was all excited in the commentray box the moment Cameron Green put his head down and smashed Mohammed Siraj towards deep mid-wicket for four. Tim Paine was at the other end, applauding the audacity of the stroke and the nonchalance with which the all-rounder sent that beyond the boundary. Australia had reasons to celebrate.

The Day 2 of the tour match between the Indians and the Australia A at the Drummoyne Oval belonged to one man – Green owned it in his style, using his lanky stature to produce some incredible shots and then guiding the A team to a comfortable position in the game. It was a reflection of his own inimitable skill compounded by an agile approach that defied the spinners and pacers alike.

It was not the first time Green produced such stuff this year. The Western Australian scored one hell of a masterclass against a strong New South Wales side in the Shield Cricket. His 197 that day was not only a celebration of his cosmopolitan valour but also a strong-willed determination to change the narrative that took a year away from him with a serious back fracture that every sportsman dreads the most.

Take this for instance. When Green was unleashed to Ravichandran Ashwin, who had just dismissed Nic Maddinson and Marus Harris with two solid deliveries, you’d expect him to be a little bit vigilant and careful. Green was vigilant surely but the spontaneity with which he drove them through mid-off and extra cover was a thing of beauty. It even caught Ashwin, of all people, off guard which forced him to bring in a deep cover to go for a more defensive option.

Cameron Green has done his part, Can Cricket Australia do their part too?

Green – Agile against spin, quick against pace

It was just a microcosm of what Green did today. He was quick on his feet against the pacers, understood the bounce of the wicket, never shied away from bringing his bat down against the away-swing bowlers like Umesh Yadav and Mohammed Siraj while punishing Kartik Tyagi’s long-hops with disdain. You watch him and realise why this guy has been so hyped by everyone in the Aussie cricketing circle.

“This kid can play – he’s a serious talent. I think he’s the best batting talent I’ve seen since Ricky Ponting. He’s got something special in that he’s 6ft 7in tall, we haven’t seen anyone of that size dominate from a batting point of view. And the kid can bowl, so it’s a real challenge,” Greg Chappell had told SEN a few days ago.

“I don’t want to put too much pressure on him, but I think all Australian cricket fans can get very excited about the prospect of Cam Green,” Tim Paine had said earlier.

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“I’ve played a few Shield games against him and the first one all the senior guys noticed him bowling first and we thought ‘geez he’s a bit quicker and a bit better than I thought he’d be’ and all the young blokes are saying ‘just wait until you see him bat’, and we thought ‘there’s no way he’s going to be able to bat like he bowls’ and then he came out and hit a hundred.”

The day 1 of the tour game has already seen Green having his impact with the ball. Despite bowling only eight overs, he was pure class and used his 6ft 7in tall fame to great effect in holding the batsmen accountable. Sure enough the back needs to be recovered completely for him not to bother about the number of overs he can send down in the future, but what we saw in those 48 legal deliveries was a boy waiting to rule the roost.

Now it is over to Cricket Australia to make a decision. As former Aussie leg-spinner Kerry O’Keeffe said on Fox Cricket, “Do you back the incumbent or do you back the future?” Matthew Wade surely has been in great touch and is a sure starter in Adelaide but one would reckon Australia will be really tempted to give the Western Australian a go.

Till that happens, one can stay assured and look forward to the future. And wait for the day Green receives the Baggy Green.