‘Really important’: Cameron Green reveals struggle to balance Tests and T20

Wellington: Cameron Green has revealed his inner struggle to find the right technical balance between Tests and Twenty20, after sculpting a superb century that came partly because he was afforded a rare red ball game to prepare for it.

A Sheffield Shield century for Western Australia in Hobart, on a similarly sporting pitch to the Basin Reserve, equipped Green to bat with ideal rhythm on a difficult day against New Zealand’s precision seam attack.

He acknowledged that this was a rare luxury in 2024’s era of compressed scheduling, and spoke of how he was trying to reach a point where the transition could be more seamless.

The moment: Cameron Green brings up a Test century in Wellington.Credit: Fox Cricket

“I think it is really important,” Green said of the Bellerive Oval innings. “I probably struggled to have the red ball practice leading in, it’s always been one or two net sessions then thrown in the deep end a little bit. But that’s what international cricket’s like at the moment, unfortunately.

“It’s been a pretty busy 18 months and there’s not much practice in between changing formats, and I think it’s just a bit of a work in progress for myself. I’m trying to learn off guys who do it quite regularly in Steve and Mitch Marsh, Dave Warner, they stay true to their technique and it is something I need to work on, not changing so much between formats. So it’s always nice to spend some time in the middle before a Test series.”

Green said the point at which he made contact with the ball differed a good deal between Tests (under the eyes) and T20 (out in front for more power to clear the boundary), and this difference had created problems last year. He had also struggled, at times, batting in the slipstream of the energetic Travis Head at number six.

“It’s probably technique changing,” he said. “The best players in the world can keep it pretty simple throughout formats. It’s just a bit different, the contact point.

“Playing T20 cricket you’ve got to reach out in front of you to hit a six and red ball cricket you’ve got to let it come to you, so I think that’s what I found challenging, just adapting to that so quickly, but the best players in the world seem to do that pretty easily.

“[Number four] is where I like batting for WA, it suits my game. I think I found it tough batting after Heady for a few years, he made scoring look a bit too easy and I take a bit of time to get in, so I think someone like Mitch is just as aggressive if not more than Heady.”

But after giving Australia something to bowl at, Green said that he and the rest of Pat Cummins’ attack were eager to hunt the New Zealand batters on a surface that’s still got plenty of life for seamers.

“We’ve got a total that’s reasonably competitive, especially with our bowling lineup,” he said. “They came out after lunch and potentially the wicket got a little bit harder, so any divoting they might’ve created in the first session probably hardened up a bit. That’s what made it tough after lunch, and it’s exciting for us.”

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