Cameron Green has declared he will happily slide back down the batting order as a selection squeeze looms for the World Test Championship decider against South Africa in June.
The Western Australian missed the entirety of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy after he injured a back in a white-ball tour of the United Kingdom in September, which resulted in surgery.
The 25-year-old made an unbeaten 174 against New Zealand when batting at No.4 last March but with Steve Smith regaining his best form in that position, a change seems certain.
Green’s first priority is to find his best form after regaining his fitness, with the all-rounder telling reporters in Perth on Monday he is “going pretty well” and is “fit and healthy”.
Had Western Australia qualified for the Sheffield Shield decider, which was clinched by South Australia on Saturday, Green said he would have been fit to bat.
Instead he will return in County Cricket for Gloucestershire in a match beginning on April 18, which is seven weeks prior to Australia’s WTC decider against South Africa at Lord’s.
“I’m going really well,” he said.
“I would have been ready for a Shield final if that happened (and) I was raring to go for that, but it wasn’t meant to be.
“I’d always set my mind on maybe getting back for the last Shield game, but then it turned pretty quickly to the World Test Champs and what is going to give me the best opportunity to be available for that selection.”
While Green will not resume bowling until he returns to Australia, he is confident in his capacity to contribute with both the bat and the ball in the Ashes next summer.
But he acknowledges there is a challenge ahead for him to regain a spot in the Australian team given the success they enjoyed in the blockbuster series against India in summer.
Tasmanian Beau Webster excelled when given an opportunity in the all-rounder position after Green’s WA teammate Mitch Marsh was dropped after struggling to find form.
Smith’s return to No.4 has complicated matters further, though Australia is still to settle on an opener to replace David Warner, with Nathan McSweeney and Sam Konstas tried in summer.
“We’ve obviously got an ultra-successful top five, six, seven, so it’s never easy, but that’s what you want it to be in a Test team,” he said.
“You want guys to challenge, take that position for themselves and that’s what’s been done. I think they’ve had another ultra-successful summer and I was so happy watching, but at the same time you want to get back in the team, so we will just wait to see what happens.”
There is conjecture surrounding Marnus Labuschagne, whose position was questioned through the summer, but champion off-spinner Nathan Lyon backed the Queenslander to find his best form in the infancy of the County cricket season.
Labuschagne managed to marshal the Bulls to turn the Sheffield Shield final clinched by South Australia on the weekend into a thriller after a disastrous opening day which saw Queensland bowled out for 95 runs in the first innings.
Labuschagne made a fighting 61 in the second innings after falling for a duck last Wednesday and Lyon said the No.3s competitiveness stood him in good stead as he strives to find his best form again.
“One thing I love about Marnus is how he competes. I’d back Marnus every day of the week. He loves it, he wants to get better and he’ll continue to try to get better,” Lyon said.
“The good thing is now the break, for a little bit, will probably be really good for him to freshen up. Then he’ll get over to Glamorgan (and) have a hit and hopefully he’ll score a heap of runs come the World Test Championship, the tour of the West Indies, and the Ashes.”
Scott Boland is no stranger to selection squeezes and finds himself in a familiar position leading into the WTC final.
The Victorian, who excelled in the WTC Final triumph over India at The Oval and was outstanding in the three Border-Gavaskar Trophy Tests he played over summer, declared his preparation was firmly tailored to being available to play at Lord’s if required.
The 35-year-old missed Victoria’s last Sheffield Shield match but, when speaking at one of several media opportunities around the country on Monday promoting the schedule for next summer, said he would have been available for the final had his state qualified.
Boland did not play in the two Test series against Sri Lanka given the spinning conditions in Galle but returned to produce a devastating spell against New South Wales in domestic cricket prior to resting his knee.
“I’ve had my eye towards that game since we qualified in January, so (I am) doing everything I can in the next two or three months to make sure I’m right for that,” he said.
“It sort of got a little bit sort ... sorer as the summer went on, just through bowling. I bowled a fair bit in those last couple of games. But ... if we made the Shield final, I would have been fine to play, so I sort of took the conservative route there. I have got the next month to really build up my strength in my whole body and then (I will) ramp up bowling again.
“Hopefully we put in another good game. We played so well in the Test Championship Final against India a couple years ago, so I’m sure everyone be super motivated.
“ (The Oval was) awesome. The atmosphere last time was really good. We had the crowd really against us in that one but hopefully, I assume, it will be a bit more neutral this time. But anytime you can play grounds like Lord’s or The Oval, that makes the game really special.”
Australia has a three Test series against the West Indies after the WTC Final and Boland has an eye on the tour of the Caribbean prior to The Ashes next summer. He announced himself as a world-class bowler when England last toured Australia for the Ashes in 2021.
“I’m obviously having a little break now, but once I do get up and going, I’m hoping it’ll just go really smoothly,” he said.
“And if everything goes well, I’ll be right to go for that one Tested in England and those three Tests in the Caribbean, and then after that, I’ll have another break again and then sort of built my strength and bowling loads again before this huge summer of cricket next year.”
The Australians not plying their trade in County cricket or in the Indian Premier League will convene for a camp in Brisbane in about a fortnight, champion off-spinner Nathan Lyon said, ahead of a busy winter schedule.
He, too, is enjoying a break after a busy summer and said he is recovering well from a hip problem, saying it was now a matter of “just making sure the fitness is right and getting back and ready”.
