New Delhi, Jan 9 Australia chief selector George Bailey said the panel is "very hopeful" about all-rounder Cameron Green being fit to play in the World Test Championship final against South Africa in June, though that could happen as a pure batter.
Green, 25, was ruled out of the 2024/25 Australian summer after suffering a recurrence of a lower back stress fracture for the fifth time during Australia’s white-ball tour of the United Kingdom. He then underwent surgery in October 2024, where he was operated upon by renowned orthopaedic spine surgeons Grahame Inglis and Rowan Schouten in Christchurch, New Zealand.
On Wednesday, Green posted a video of himself on Instagram, where he was running and training in the outfield of the WACA Ground in his hometown, Perth. "Very hopeful he will be available as a batsman for the World Test Championship final," Bailey told reporters after announcing Australia’s 16-member squad for the Sri Lanka Test tour.
With seam-bowling all-rounder Mitchell Marsh omitted from the Test team after a lean run in the 3-1 series win over India, Bailey was quizzed if his time in the longer format was over, which he categorically denied.
“I don’t necessarily see it as the end of the road for him. I think Mitch at his best and with a longer-term view of potentially what the Ashes may look like and what England may throw at us, I think he’s got a skill set that suits there.
“Not taking away from the fact that at some stage clearly we’re going to have the return of Cameron Green as well into the team. But unlike some, (the selectors) are probably not as glass half empty around where that leaves Mitch," he said.
Pace-bowling all-rounder Beau Webster, who had a memorable Test debut with scores of 57 and 39 not out, apart from taking a wicket and grabbing two sharp catches in Sydney, will be in line to shoulder a heavy bowling workload in Sri Lanka.
Bailey opined that Webster’s off-spin, a bowling style he bowled before switching to seam, would unlikely be called upon in Sri Lanka. "(Webster's spin) probably wasn't something that came up as a factor in selection. I think we've got plenty of spin options there. It's a nice fourth or fifth bow for Beau to have up his sleeve, but I don't necessarily think that we'll be heading down that path," said Bailey.
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