Franchises set to ‘break the bank’ for Cameron Green in 2023 Indian Premier League auction

Cameron Green’s decision to enter the IPL auction should earn him in excess of $2m but has sent a shockwave through Australian cricket.

Captain Pat Cummins (left) and young all-rounder Cameron Green are two of the most important components of Australia’s Test set-up. Picture: Getty Images

Cameron Green’s decision to enter the IPL auction should earn him in excess of $2m but has sent a shockwave through Australian cricket as it enters one of its busiest 12 months.

One coach told The Australian “if he doesn’t get $2m-plus I’ll go jump, a lot of teams have cleared out cash for the auction”.

The good news that Pat Cummins has pulled out of the Indian Premier League to focus on a packed international schedule has been balanced by the potentially worse news that young all-rounder Green has entered the auction for next year’s tournament.

Australian cricket has secured its present, but lost control of its ­future.

There was concern in the Australian camp at the news, but coach Andrew McDonald was keen to emphasise the positives, saying they wished him well if that was the path he chose.

“I’m sure there’ll be a lot of ­interest in those all-rounder types, Sam Curran, Ben Stokes and ­Cameron Green in that mix,” McDonald said.

“The positive around the IPL is the experience it creates, the conversations, the different coach messaging that you get, player to player reaction, so it’s a real positive if his body is in a place to go there and fulfil that but also knowing that we have the Ashes on the back of that as well, so there’ll be some balance given there.”

The coach said there were conversations taking place with franchises as Josh Hazlewood, Mitch Marsh and David Warner were among the Australians retained by the IPL franchises ahead of the December 23 auction.

Green, 23, who has been on a limited workload since entering the team, is a brilliant bowling and batting package from Western Australia who plays all three formats for Australia.

A veteran of 14 consecutive Tests, he is part of the ODI plans for the series against England this week and was part of the Twenty20 World Cup.

Australia has at least 14 Tests – 15 if it makes the World Test Championship final as expected – scheduled in the next 10 months and a 50-over World Cup.

Announcing his decision to withdraw form the IPL, Cummins said on social media that “the international schedule is packed with Tests and ODIs for the next 12 months” and that he would “take some rest ahead of an Ashes series and World Cup”.

Cricket Australia is understood to have made Cummins’ decision easier by granting him a three-year central contract estimated to be worth upwards of $2m.

Green, however, is on less than $1m and is living year to year after entering the national setup in 2020. He could potentially triple that money for 10 weeks’ work in the IPL and in doing so gain valuable experience in the format against the world’s best on Indian pitches ahead of next year’s ODI World Cup.

Green is considered one of the most valuable young prospects Australia has produced, easily fitting into a role his more experienced predecessors Shane Watson and Marsh struggled to fill.

Cummins warned recently that cricket needed to be proactive or it risked losing Green to the IPL when it could least afford to.

“One of my first thoughts whenever I bowl him is we don’t want to burn him, he’s young, he’s vulnerable,” the captain said.

“It’s been a huge win from the medical side of things to have him play as much cricket as he has over the last couple of years, fortunately, he can fall back on his batting even if he’s not bowling.

“Now he’s in and around three formats it becomes even more important. He is someone who loves playing, even when he goes back to WA we have to manage that as well. The are 15 Tests in the next few months plus a World Cup.

“You can’t really blame anyone going (in the IPL). He’s going to have huge demand on him wherever he plays. Decisions will be made, there’s lots of cricket around.”

Matthew Hayden, who mentored Pakistan in the recent World Cup, predicted great interest in Green.

“He hasn’t been picked up in the IPL, but I’ll tell you what, bowling all-rounders, they are gold dust,” he said recently.

Greg Chappell called on Australia to protect Green in January, saying he was potentially one of its greatest ever all-rounders.

“The point is that finding players with true all-round talent is like finding the mother lode,” he wrote in the Nine papers. “Once you find it, you protect it with everything in your power.”

Indian cricket experts predict a number of franchises will bid for Green in December’s auction and potentially make him one of the most valued products in a tournament where players can double or triple their ­earnings.

Ravi Ashwin indicated that Green could set a new record in December’s IPL auction.

“Some teams might think of using him in the powerplay and might go after him in this year’s auction unless and until he pulls out,” Ashwin said.

“I am sure some team will break the bank for him in this year’s auction.”

Green hung out his shingle when he scored two half centuries opening the batting for Australia in a T20 last month in India. When star opener David Warner was offered bonus money to participate in the Sydney Thunder’s BBL team this summer as a marquee player, a number of franchises approached organisers seeking the same but were rejected.

■ Glenn Maxwell is not giving up hope of being fit and picked for Australia‘s Test tour of India next February and is hoping be return from a broken leg before the end of the BBL.

Despite reports he could be spending as much as three months recovering from the injury, Maxwell was not willing to give up on the tour of India, Melbourne Stars coach David Hussey said.

“I think that’s at the back of his mind,” Hussey said. “There’s no dates have been set for his comeback, but speaking to Glenn directly, he’s pretty hopeful of being back at the end of the BBL and then targeting the ­Indian Test tour.”

Originally published as Franchises set to ‘break the bank’ for Cameron Green in 2023 Indian Premier League auction