Andrew Symonds wary of damage premature Test call-up could do to Cameron Green if he fails

Former Australian Test all-rounder Andrew Symonds says huge hype is putting a lot of pressure on Cameron Green, leaving him vulnerable if thrown in against India.

Cameron Green was this month named in a 17-man Test squad to face India.

Former Australian star Andrew Symonds has warned the hottest talent in the country could be ‘set up to fail’ if he’s rushed into a fiery Test baptism against Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Shami.

Cameron Green is considered the brightest prospect in Australian cricket and was last month described by former selector Greg Chappell as the best batsman to come through the ranks since Ricky Ponting.

On the back of a mighty 197 against NSW, Green was this month named in a 17-man Test squad to face India this summer — but Symonds cautioned against jumping the gun with the impressive 21-year-old.

Green not only averages 49.83 with the bat but is also a top-level paceman, taking 5-24 on debut and so presents an exciting all-round package to potentially fill the troublesome No. 6 spot in the line-up.

But with just 19 first-class matches under his belt Symonds pointed to the example of former teammate Mike Hussey, who had to wait until he was 30, and with 15,313 first-class runs to his name, before earning his baggy green as a cautionary tale for how to handle Green.

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Andrew Symonds has cautioned against jumping the gun with the impressive 21-year-old.

“It’s not a hell of a lot of cricket (he’s played). Mike Hussey scored 15,000 first class runs before he played for Australia,” Symonds told The Daily Telegraph.

“And I know he played in an era where it was very difficult to break into the side, but are you setting a young fella up to fail?

“Because he hasn’t actually done it enough times to know his game so that when he hits a bit of a submerged log he knows ‘right, I’ve got to go back to that, back to those basics, get them right and I’ll start scoring runs again’.

“Has he got the ability to go back to the basics and do that? International cricket is a cruel animal.

“You’ll go in there early and the opposition will work you over and if you don’t get things right early on then you get the paper pressure.

Green has proven himself with some significant knocks.

“If he has success early on, he really should want to grasp that and then if he’s struggling early on, what he’s going to do about it to turn it around so he can get himself back on track quickly. Because the axe will drop if he doesn’t.

‘And that’s the worry. You put him in a bit early, rather than give him an extra season and a half where he starts scoring two hundreds in a row and then another, and another 50, and he’s got his game really in order.

“But a kid that scores 197, that’s no fluke. That’s a quality innings and an exceptional amount of runs in one go.

“He’s obviously got something they’ve seen and they like. I just hope he’s ready and they’re not rushing him.”

Hussey echoed similar concerns, saying a premature call-up had the potential to “mentally ruin” the young star.

“We just need to be patient. We don’t want to ruin the kid before he even starts,” Hussey said.

“We expect our all-rounders to be able to bat well in the top six and score hundreds, and also be able to contribute heavily with the ball as well.

“And it’s such a difficult role to play in the team — you’ve basically got two players in one there, and that’s why they can be so valuable.

“That’s why I want to be patient with this kid and pick him when he’s ready to go rather than picking him when he’s not quite ready — because you could ruin him mentally for a few years.”

However, Symonds said the value of bringing Green into the Test arena — as a non-playing squad member — could pay huge dividends in years to come.

“Have him around the men that have played for years and just get the feel for what it’s like in the dressing sheds, what it’s like to travel with the team, what he’s got to do physically to get himself ready, what’s required of a young player in a group,” Symonds added.

“It’s a good thing to get him in there for that reason.”

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Originally published as Andrew Symonds wary of damage premature Test call-up could do to Cameron Green if he fails