Australia v Zimbabwe 2022: Cameron Green’s potential after five-wicket haul as Aussies look to England for inspiration
Touch wood, but it is fair to suggest Cameron Green could be anything. And while Australia’s ODI game was once envied, now they are looking to the old enemy for inspiration.
Let’s whisper this lest saying it aloud jinxes him, but it’s fair to suggest Cameron Green’s potential is unlimited.
And, if we say that Australia is modelling their 50 over game on England’s successful 2019 model and he is a key component of that approach, can we keep it from them because you know how they’ll crow?
A late sleeper like most his age, Green took his time to get going and even appeared to struggle a little in his second international Test season, but came good and took 13 wickets at 16 and made 273 runs at 32.6 by series end.
Glenn Maxwell was a little conflicted when asked about the 22-year-old’s ability after the all-rounder had grabbed his first ODI five wicket haul in Sunday’s match against Zimbabwe, but Pat Cummins was wholehearted in his assessment following the Ashes.
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“As good as any all-rounder in the world at the moment I think,” Cummins said at the time.
“For someone so young, as a captain, I feel really lucky not only to draw on him as a bowler but when he’s next into bat, I just feel so calm.
“He showed he absolutely belongs at this level as a Test batter and then as a bowler, he’s a genuine fourth quick.”
In the ODI’s he is being used as a genuine third quick in the absence of Cummins.
Maxwell didn’t want to place too much expectation on the kid but could not help himself.
“There’s a lot of potential there, we notice it in the change rooms as we watch him go about his business,” he said.
“You face him at training, you watch him bat … the day before I arrived the boys were talking about how he batted in the centre wicket on a spicy pitch that was doing a bit of everything.
“All the rest of the top order said they nicked and nudged it around while he went in there and started smacking them and was pretty brutal on some of our bowlers.
“He’s got a lot of potential and a lot of skill — talent — and it helps being six foot ten or whatever he is. He’s enormous, he bowls a heavy ball, bats beautifully and was probably the best move in the field in that XI today.
“It’s an exciting package when you look at it, but you don’t want to overburden him right now.
“He’s got a lot of cricket ahead of him, we don’t want to burn him out at this stage of his career.”
Australia batted Green way down at No.8 in the first game and stacked the middle order with all rounders, including Mitch Marsh, Marcus Stoinis and Maxwell.
“Conditions come into that a lot, when you get flat pitches that aren’t doing too much having a lot of all rounders is helpful because it doesn’t really matter what you bowl, it is generally going to travel,” Maxwell said.
“If you have all rounders who can chip in here and there it makes it easier to get through your 50 overs by chopping and changing.
“When it’s doing a bit you still want the best bowlers available to get those wickets and as I said that’s the beauty with Greeny. He’s good enough to play any role.
“We’ve seen the success England have had in the one day format by batting down to 10 and 11 and having the bowlers be good options with the bat still, it’s up to us to try and move that way or try and mimic the way we want to go about it.
“I know 2015 we set the standard of what a one day team looked like and a lot of teams tried to copy that going forward and England are now the benchmark we are working toward.
“Hopefully today’s a good start, we have 13 or 14 months, to try things out.”
The Australians are using the ODIs against Zimbabwe and then New Zealand as a trial ahead of next year’s 50 over World Cup in India — for those struggling to keep up with all this cricket, there is a T20 World Cup at the start of the Australian summer first.
Australia lead the series against Zimbabwe 1-0 and will play the second of three games against the visitors on Wednesday at Riverway Stadium.
World Cup weapon shines before touching Symonds tribute
— Peter Lalor and Phil Dillon
Cameron Green had his best day with the ball and moved a step closer to locking himself a place in the ODI World Cup team while a trio of old pros provided the entertainment as Australia easily overcame Zimbabwe in Townsville.
David Warner (72 from 91 balls) and Steve Smith (48no from 80) were the bedrocks as Australia chase down the 200 run total in the second innings.
Glenn Maxwell turned on a sparkling cameo after Ryan Burl picked up three quick wickets that upset the middle order.
Maxwell (32 from 9 balls) brought up the required total with back to back sixes to end the match with 99 balls to spare and robbed Smith of his half century.
It seemed fitting that a big-boned all rounder gained the attention on a day when Andrew Symonds two kids, Chloe and Billy, were running drinks and his memory was marked, at the Riverway Stadium five minutes from the former cricketers home.
Green, an undeniable talent with bat and ball, had just one wicket at an average of 169 from his seven previous ODIs.
Bowling back of a length on a slightly sticky pitch, he finished with 5-33 - a haul that brought his average back to respectability and saw him hold the ball aloft in the traditional manner for the first time.
Green got his chance in Pakistan when the other quicks hightailed it home after the Test series but his presence in this side alongside fellow seaming all-rounder Mitch Marsh may point to selectors plans for the future.
Australia won the toss and bowled first. Warner turned it on for the small, but enthusiastic crowd at the picturesque cricket ground.
He got to 50 from 57 balls but was lucky to get there. The opener walked when Zimbabwe appealed for a caught behind in Sikandar Raza’s first over. He’d just cracked a four through mid-wicket, then been dropped at backward point before the appeal which was turned down by the umpire but reviewed by the visitors.
Warner waited by the boundary for the inevitable but snicko detected only the slightest flutter and he had to make his way back when the third umpire upheld the on-field decision. Raza got his man soon after.
Zimbabwe’s top order held its own, with 21-year-old Wessly Madhevere contributing 72 runs from first drop, but lost 6-15 when Green got on a roll.
Opener Tadinawashe Marunami fell short of a half century when he was deceived by Adam Zampa on 45 and captain Regis Chakabva continued the good work in the middle order with 31 from 33 balls.
The visitors tale, however, was clipped by Green whose first wicket was the highly rated Raza (5) and last was Brad Evans (3), the son of Craig Evans who played in Zimbabwe’s last Test tour of this country 19 years ago.
Raza, 36, caught the eye with centuries against Bangladesh and India before travelling to Australia. Born in Pakistan he trained with the airforce for three years but his dream to be a fighter pilot was derailed by a vision problem.
Symonds family took part in a moving ceremony between the innings. They took his cattle dogs, his fishing gear, his hat and his baggy green to the centre of the ground that’s located on the shores of the Ross River where he spent the happiest times of his life.
Players from both teams formed a guard of honour and the words ROY 388 (his Test number) were painted on the grass.
Pictures of the larrikin cricketer looked down from the scoreboard as a selection of his favourite country songs played over the speakers.
GOODBYE, ROY: FAMILY’S TOUCHING SYMONDS TRIBUTE
Andrew Symonds’ sister Louise has thanked the Townsville community for helping to honour her brother in an emotional tribute at Riverway Stadium.
Symonds’ children, Chloe 10, and Billy eight were joined by his wife Laura, Louise, and mum Barbara on the field as the city joined the family in saying their goodbyes to one of their own stars.
Chloe and Billy led the family through a guard of honour from both Australia and Zimbabwe players in the innings break of the One-Day International played in Townsville.
It was the first time since Australia had played an international in Symonds’ home city and the first time the team had played on home soil since the 46-year-old was killed in a single-vehicle crash west of the city in May.
Fans stood in silence as the children and family walked to the wicket with Symonds’ best mate, former Australian cricketer Jimmy Maher, and the late star’s two blue heeler dogs Woody and Buzz.
To the strains of Country Roads and John Williamson’s True Blue, they all crossed over a sign that ground staff had painted on the turf which read Roy 388 – depicting Symonds’ nickname and Test cap number.
When they reached the wicket, Symonds’ bat, Baggy Green Australian cap, Akubra hat, fishing rod, and a crab pot were laid on the ground next to one of the wickets.
Louise said the family was touched by the tribute.
“We would like to thank the Townsville community for coming out and honouring my brother as they did,” she said.
Chloe and Billy had earlier stood alongside ODI captain Aaron Finch and superstar Steve Smith as the crowd stood as one for a minute’s silence in honour of their father.
They remained standing for the national anthems and later helped run drinks out to Australia’s players when they were fielding and remained in the team dugout.
Fox Sports cricket commentator Dan Ginnane and former teammate Brad Haddin were both touched by the tribute to Symonds, who played 26 Tests, 198 ODIs, and 14 T20Is for Australia.
“Well how appropriately North Queensland was that tribute, something we won’t see again I imagine,” Ginnane said.
“It has been more than three months since his passing, and it still doesn’t feel real. They were tough scenes to watch.
“A more beloved cricketer you’d be hard to find.”
“It was tough. He was one of the good ones,” former Australia wicketkeeper Haddin added.
“Loyal as the day was long, but what a wonderful tribute. Well done to the family, Chloe and Will.”
A small contingent of Zimbabwe fans came from across Australia for yesterday’s first match of a three-game series.
Nore Masho travelled to Townsville from Melbourne and said the tribute moved him.
“Symonds was one of my favourite Australian cricketers,” he said.
“It’s actually pretty good that they dedicated this match to him. He was a brilliant player. It was a very touching moment.”
It is expected that the grandstand at the Riverway Stadium will be renamed after Symonds in the near future.
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