Cameron Green’s allround skill set could be the missing link in Australia’s Test side
A player who can hold his place as a batsman or bowler is the rarest type of cricketing bird – which makes this prodigy’s emergence so exciting, explains ROBERT CRADDOCK.
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There’s a special sort of excitement about allrounder Cameron Green and it’s linked to a 65-year search for cricket’s most precious gem.
That’s how long it has been since the greatest of all Australian allrounders, debonair Keith Miller, swaggered off into retirement with a Test match batting average of 37 and a bowling average of 23.
These are kooky numbers because they meant Miller could have been chosen as a batsman or a pace bowler, making him the most treasured selection option of all outside a batting freak like Don Bradman.
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Into this exclusive “pick me for either skill” club fall players like West Indian icon Garry Sobers and England’s Ian Botham.
Outside it fall dozens of wannabe bits and pieces players who were touted for big things but fell short after teasing selectors because they “did a bit of this and that‘’ but neither particularly well.
There are at least a dozen English all-rounders with scrapbooks featuring stories which called them “the new Botham.‘’ Most of them played less than 20 Tests and now cringe at the comparison.
It‘s far too early to say that new 50-over Australian selection Green could be a “Nugget’’ Miller clone. But his numbers in his brief career – a batting average of 52 and a bowling average of 21 – are making pulses race.
The significant thing is, for most of his career, Green thought of himself as a bowler more than a batsman even though his batting skills have been most prominent at first class level.
When he made his Sheffield Shield debut for West Australia he batted No 8 and took five wickets.
Tim Paine was so excited by Green‘s potential when he scored a century for Western Australia against Tasmania he immediately rang coach Justin Langer to sprout his virtues.
Greg Chappell has been the loudest voice on the Green bandwagon.
That’s significant because Chappell was the selector who pounded the pulpit for a young Steve Smith to make his Test debut and for white ball warrior David Warner to be groomed for Test cricket.
Chappell is exceptional at spotting young talent and is a shamelessly hard marker because he knows most youngsters never make it.
He knows the impact of his words so he does not throw around lines like “he’s the best I’ve seen since Ricky Ponting’’ without the deepest consideration.
Chappell has been saying for 40 years the definition of a true allrounder is someone who can hold their place in the side on one skill so that the other skill becomes a bonus.
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Into this category fall the likes of Mark and Steve Waugh, primarily batsmen, and Alan Davidson and Richie Benaud, mainly bowlers.
Green could actually sail high above this mark if both of his skills pass muster.
It’s exciting. The great thing about all-rounders is that they create so much discussion. They literally drip storylines.
Could Green play as a specialist batsman? Where should he bat? Who should make way for him? Should Australia use him sparingly as a bowler?
Nothing captures the interest of a cricket nation more than a young player with a spectacular future.
A fascinating journey awaits …