Test bolter emerges amid Cameron Green’s nightmare injury woes

A Test bolter has emerged as Australian selectors face a nightmare scenario with a star all-rounder facing a long stint on the sidelines.

The timing was impeccable.

As reports emerged of Cameron Green’s looming back surgery, which puts him in doubt for the start of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, another tall all-rounder was celebrating his 12th first-class century at Melbourne Junction’s Oval.

Beau Webster’s 113 against Victoria, which featured 13 boundaries, was his fourth Sheffield Shield hundred since the start of last summer, with the Tasmanian accumulating 1051 runs at 61.82 over the past 12 months.

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The 30-year-old, who hails from Snug in Tasmania’s south, was named player of the Sheffield Shield last summer having also taken 30 wickets at 29.30. The only other cricketer who has bettered his season tally with bat and ball was West Indies legend Garfield Sobers, who represented South Australia during the 1963/64 Sheffield Shield.

He also enjoyed a successful stint at Gloucestershire in the County Championship over the winter, cracking 233 runs at 58.25 and snaring 16 scalps at 21.25, including a career-best bowling performance of 6-100 against Derbyshire.

This week’s century in the Victorian capital has only fuelled intrigue surrounding Webster’s credentials as national selectors ponder how to replace Green for the highly-anticipated Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

“I feel like I’ve been batting really well for 18 months now,” Webster told reporters at stumps on Thursday.

“I’ve got a routine down pat. Whatever the conditions offer, I feel like I’ve got a game plan that can have some success.”

Beau Webster of Tasmania. Photo by Darrian Traynor/Getty Images

Webster, who stands at 202cm, slightly taller than Green, has become Tasmania’s most valuable cricketer since reinventing himself as a seam-bowling all-rounder ahead of the 2020/21 season. After making his first-class debut in 2014, he floated up and down the state side’s batting order while contributing some part-time finger spin, but it wasn’t until the Covid-19 lockdown he decided to hit the gym and learn the craft of seam bowling.

He soon discovered his true calling as a counterattacking No. 6, peeling off 596 runs and taking 19 wickets during a breakout Sheffield Shield campaign in 2022/23, earning a call-up for the Prime Minister’s XI the following summer.

Webster’s a proven match-winner, smacking an unbeaten 167 off 180 balls against Victoria in March to seal Tasmania’s spot in the Sheffield Shield final for the first time in six years. Whether counterpunching following an early collapse or heaping pain on weary opposition, his big-hitting capabilities have given rival bowlers plenty of headaches.

“I’m a free-flowing player,” Webster continued.

“My defence isn’t the best part of my game. I’m a bit of an attacking player.”

Beau Webster of Tasmania. Photo by Darrian Traynor/Getty Images

Earlier this year, Webster declared he was “absolutely ready” for the next level, but despite his recent domestic success, his pathway to a coveted baggy green was clouded by Green and Test all-rounder Mitchell Marsh.

However, Green’s back injury has opened the door, albeit marginally, for a maiden national call-up, while he could get an opportunity to press his case further in next month’s Australia A matches against India.

“It’s hard to ignore,” Webster replied when asked about the brewing media speculation.

“But there’s a lot of other good all-rounders around the country, and a lot of all-rounders that have had good performances in the last 12 months.

“Hopefully I can just keep doing what I’m doing, and if they see something they like, and I get an opportunity, I’ll jump at it and grab it with both hands.

“I’m in good form and can hopefully press my case if I do get an opportunity (for Australia A).”

There are still plenty of obstacles blocking Webster from a Test debut, most notably Marsh, who has occupied the No. 6 spot since last year’s Ashes series; the reigning Allan Border Medallist has been Australia’s most consistent Test batter over the past 18 months, compiling 750 runs at 46.87 during that period.

Meanwhile, with Steve Smith expected to return to his preferred position at No. 4, national selectors might feel inclined to replace the injured Green with a specialist opener, with Cameron Bancroft, Marcus Harris, Matthew Renshaw and Sam Konstas among the leading candidates to partner Usman Khawaja this summer.

However, Pat Cummins has previously spoken about the importance of having all-rounders to call upon throughout the gruelling five-Test campaign against India, with Green’s absence denying the Australian captain an additional bowling option.

Subsequently, the Test side could heavily rely on Marsh’s seamers this summer, but the West Australian has only produced four overs in competitive cricket since he sustained a hamstring injury during the Indian Premier League in April.

If national selectors felt that Marsh wasn’t capable of assisting Australia’s frontline bowling attack during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, that’s where Webster and fellow all-rounder Aaron Hardie come into the equation.

Beau Webster of Tasmania. Photo by Darrian Traynor/Getty Images

Hardie was impressive during the recent white-ball tour of the United Kingdom, while he averages 40.45 with the bat and 28.53 with the ball at first-class level. However, the West Australian missed this week’s Sheffield Shield match against Queensland in Perth as he recovers from a quad injury he picked up in England.

“If Mitch Marsh is to go down, then it’d be hard to look past someone like Beau at the moment,” Tasmanian captain Jordan Silk said in March.

“He’s definitely, I’m sure, front and centre in conversations if there’s an injury there.

“I’ve never seen someone punch out those sort of numbers in my career, so it’s a credit to him. He’s worked really hard.”

Tasmania was 9-527 at stumps on day three, leading Victoria by 99 runs.

Originally published as Test bolter emerges amid Cameron Green’s nightmare injury woes