The mystery benefactor behind Cameron Green’s remarkable return to cricket revealed ahead of WTC Final
Cameron Green’s stunning comeback to the Australian team from back surgery is the most inspiring story leading into the World Test Championship final. And it was all made possible by a former English school teacher.
Cricket
Don't miss out on the headlines from Cricket. Followed categories will be added to My News.
The mystery benefactor responsible for bankrolling the remarkable return of Cameron Green has been unveiled as a former English school teacher who could have bought a racehorse, but bought the Australian cricket superstar instead.
In the most inspiring story of next week’s World Test Championship Final against South Africa, Green’s stunning comeback to the Australian team from back surgery can be largely credited to the generosity of 79-year-old Gloucestershire sporting identity, Chris Coley, without whom Green would never have had the opportunity to even push his case.
Green was desperate to find an English county deal to allow him to press for an immediate international return for next week’s Test final at Lord’s, and Gloucestershire seemed like the most unlikely of saviours as a cash-strapped county which had been on the brink of financial ruin after recording a 1.5 million pound loss in 2023.
Gloucestershire could never have afforded a player of Green’s stature out of its own coffers, but Coley’s anonymous decision to punt on a cricketer rather than a racehorse paved the way for the Australian batsman to find his way to Bristol and smash three centuries on
English soil to seize back his place in the Aussie XI at the 11th hour and leave Marnus Labuschagne and Sam Konstas fighting it out for the last remaining spot. Coley, who agreed to be unmasked when contacted by this masthead, owns horses with UK racing identity Fergal O’Brien but says buying an Australian cricketer has unexpectedly proved far more rewarding.
“I’m getting on in years. I’ve got a bit of spare cash. I own a business and I’m a partner in a horse racing business, we train race horses. If I hadn’t done this I would have been buying another racehorse,” Coley said.
“The new Gloucestershire Chairman (Peter Matthews) has come in and has really saved the club with his diligence and the way he’s got stuck into it and he was talking to me, not so much as a member but as a mate, and he said; ‘we’d love to sign this guy.’
“Basically he persuaded me that this money, ‘if you’d like to afford it would be well spent. The club can’t afford it.’ And he caught me at the right moment and I said ‘OK.’
“The only person who is upset about this is my business partner Fergal who would have gained a new horse.
“You have to be able to say when you buy a racehorse that the money is down the drain before you start. It’s a 1000-1 short, a million dollar to one shot if you make any money out of owning a racehorse.
“This was a much more successful punt.
“We’ve all come out of this with a considerable profit.”
Coley didn’t want to go into how much he outlaid to bring Green to Gloucestershire but admitted it was the equivalent of buying a new thoroughbred.
“Gloucestershire was just on a slippery slope. Seriously, it really was. Hence one is restricted with a playing budget in that situation when you’re losing money. And the new Chairman has been adamant they could not have any more money to spend on players. So hence why this little chat with me came about,” he said.
It originally seemed that Green would be forced to wait until the upcoming tour of the West Indies to win back his place in the Australian XI, but all that changed when he smashed three centuries for Gloucestershire on English soil to make his case for immediate reinstatement irresistible.
Green is likely to bat at No. 3 for Australia in the WTC Final starting on Wednesday.
Coley, a corporate hospitality success story in the UK, said he dipped into his own pocket for Green not knowing a thing about him, but was not disappointed by the way the West Australian put back into the county both on and off the field.
“Let’s be blunt. I didn’t know him from Adam and it was only three weeks ago, one Sunday lunch when I was sitting there at a game and Gloucestershire must have been batting and the coach Mark Alleyne came out and said, ‘I better bring him to meet you,’” Coley said.
“How can I put it: he was a charming young man. And with all due respect to other cricketers and other sportsmen, I was so pleasantly surprised at the way he conducted himself.
“We sat for half an hour and chatted and when he disappeared (I said), well that was pretty special. What a good chap.
“I’m not sure if every Australian cricketer or indeed England cricketer would have been able to conduct himself in such a courteous, humble manner.
“It was a risk. It was a chance that everybody was taking, including himself. Obviously his motivation was pretty obvious, it was simple: to get back in that Australian team. He wasn’t just coming over here for the money and we at Gloucestershire give him so much credit, really.”
The other key factor in Green’s arrival in Gloucestershire was fellow West Australian and former Test opener Cameron Bancroft, who is the county captain.
Without the unique offer from Gloucestershire, Green would not have been able to prove his form or his fitness to Australian selectors given he was unable to return in time from serious back surgery to play for WA at the end of the Sheffield Shield season.
Gloucestershire chief executive Neil Priscott said Green – and his benefactor Coley – have helped turn the county around.
“The message we gave our members was, ‘if we can’t afford something, we will not be buying it.’ One thing led to another and a mystery benefactor did come forward which unlocked the door. We understood Cam Green was looking for an opportunity within county cricket, he obviously had this big target of the World Test Championship Final that he wanted to put himself in the frame for, and there you go,” Priscott said.
Highlights of Cam Green's century today 💥
— Gloucestershire Cricket 🆠(@Gloscricket) May 25, 2025
A superb knock which puts us in a commanding position going into day four v Northants 💛🖤#BecomeGloriouspic.twitter.com/SYav8pubUP
“He’s been incredible for us. You couldn’t ask for more in someone who threw himself at the opportunity. He is a top bloke. Brilliant in the dressing room. There’s nothing he wouldn’t do for the club in terms of being an ambassador. One of the things he talked about is when he’s hearing our supporters chanting his name in the game against Kent that we won, I think he was really touched by that.
“He’s made a big, big impression It’s very strange for us to be cheering on an Aussie in this way, but he’s one of ours now. We really feel that.
“We’re not the biggest club. We know that. Our players, they’re not the most highly remunerated … we’re not just going to blow the bank for a star or a headline player. We can’t afford to do that. So we were incredibly grateful for the ability to unlock the Cam Green magic.”
Coley said Green’s gracious qualities have in fact inspired him to further his motivation to put back into the game of cricket.
“At the same time as supporting Cameron, actually it was almost the same day, I decided that I would start a cricket scholarship at Cheltenham College, my old school, for a new pupil to come along. To provide a guy from an ordinary background a privileged education to further his cricket as much as anything and that’s linked a bit to Cameron in a way,” Coley said.
More Coverage
Originally published as The mystery benefactor behind Cameron Green’s remarkable return to cricket revealed ahead of WTC Final
Join the conversation
Essendon turf war: Windy Hill stoush escalates amid court threat
Essendon’s football and cricket clubs are at loggerheads over use of the iconic Windy Hill, with allegations of threats which could cause the conflict to end up in court.
Read more
History beckons as Aussie great weighs in on fast bowler battle
If Josh Hazlewood wins the battle for the final spot in Australia’s bowling line-up for the World Test Championship final, he and Mitchell Starc could break a longstanding record held by Gillespie and McGrath.
Read more