Aussie ODI and T20 squad: Cameron Green gets first taste of international game
Twelve months out from another Ashes battle, Aussie selectors have officially anointed a once-in-a-generation prodigy for the India white-ball series - and it should scare two Test incumbents.
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The thundering footsteps of Cameron Green are suddenly echoing in the ears of Travis Head and Matthew Wade, as Australia lays the platform to unleash a once-in-a-generation Test star.
Green, who Greg Chappell has dubbed Australia’s best talent since Ricky Ponting, has been rushed into Australia’s white-ball squad to face India and the prodigiously talented allrounder is now in prime contention for a stunning Test debut this summer.
Australia’s world No.1 Test team is the most settled it’s been in years, but until now proper competition for spots has been lacking and Head and Wade now find themselves under pressure to lock down their middle-order spots with Green expedited on to the scene.
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National selector Trevor Hohns on Thursday made a point of backing in Australia’s middle-order incumbents, declaring that Green’s emergence didn’t necessarily equate to immediate heat being put on their spots.
But the mercury is rising, particularly after Hohns declared Green could pay his way in the top six on the strength of his batting prowess alone, and wouldn’t even need to be fit to bowl at full capacity.
“Any comments around (Green being in Test contention) are not meant to put pressure on anybody at all,” Hohns said. “What we will find is the opportunity will be there to have an enlarged squad because of circumstances surrounding the virus.
“There’s every chance he, Cameron, will have the option to be included in that squad, but that doesn’t mean there’s pressure on anybody.
“Our Test match side has performed very, very well. It’s pretty stable. I don’t envisage too much pressure being exerted on any of the incumbents immediately.”
It’s a reality check for the well-performed Head and Wade, particularly when the COVID-19 pandemic has robbed Australia of any Test cricket since January.
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Head scored a hundred last Boxing Day to ease the pressure on himself, and already has a ton for South Australia to start the Sheffield Shield season. Wade has stood up since being recalled to the Test team as a specialist batsman against England last year, scoring two important Ashes hundreds, and is due to play his first match for Tasmania on Friday.
Opener Joe Burns is the Australian batsman with perhaps the most vulnerable recent record, but he is insulated from feeling the heat of the Green machine because he’s at the top of the order, a position where selectors don’t have anyone else jumping out of the box.
Hohns confirmed The Daily Telegraph’s report that Australian stars Pat Cummins, David Warner, Steve Smith and Josh Hazlewood are unlikely to get any red or pink-ball preparation for the Test series after they return home from the IPL —– and it seems at least a couple of those names could be rested for the white-ball series.
Green is fresh from a 197 for Western Australia already this summer and his incredible record with bat and ball as a 21-year-old makes him a player with the potential to play a Ben Stokes-like role.
However, the one question mark is he hasn’t bowled for nearly a year due to stress fractures and will relaunch those mechanics on Friday when he bowls a few overs for Western Australia in the Shield.
“Cameron’s a very exciting young prospect for us,” Hohns said.
“His form has dictated that he be included in this Australian (white-ball) squad.”
Why Test star’s white-ball dream is fading fast
Nathan Lyon is set to claim the 100-match and 400-wicket double this Test summer, but prioritising preparations for his milestone campaign has cost him his place in Australia’s white ball set-up.
Australia’s cricket selectors have announced their one-day and Twenty20 squads on Thursday to face India next month, and Lyon is a high-profile casualty from the massive party that toured England in September.
Lyon went through a month in the UK bubble – plus two weeks of strict quarantine back in Australia – to not even play a single game against England, in what amounted to an overseas net session.
Australia is conscious of potentially stringing him along again as a fringe white-ball player carrying the drinks for a fortnight against India, when they have a high-octane Test series coming up in which Lyon will be a pillar of the bowling line-up.
Due to the onerous demands of COVID restrictions, any time outside the bubble is considered golden and selectors have made a call on Lyon to keep him fresh and focused for the main menu of the Border Gavaskar Trophy.
The reasoning behind his omission may not entirely appease Lyon, who has been repeatedly clear about his ambitions to cement his place for Australia in all three forms.
Lyon has been like a yoyo, in and out of the one-day squad in particular on an almost tour-by-tour basis, and being dropped at this stage of his career will make it hard for him to get back again.
Australia have picked a smaller white ball contingent than they did for England, but will have several players on standby to come into the bubble if required.
