Chappell says Cameron Green best since Ponting

Cameron Green is batting like few before him and Australia’s best eye for talent, Greg Chappell, says get him into Test team now.

Western Australia’s Cameron Green celebrates his century against NSW last week. Picture: Getty Images

Cameron Green is the best Australian batsman Greg Chappell has seen since Ricky Ponting and one who could be key to winning the 2021-22 Ashes.

The former selector believes that with the Indians in the country for the Test series the time is right to pick the talented 21-year-old, who many believed would only play if he was bowling.

Injured last year, the allrounder has played state cricket as a batsman only since and has displayed the sort of form that demands selection.

The West Australian scored 197 against NSW in the last Shield match, his fourth first-class century from 17 games, and has averaged 74.5 since the beginning of last summer.

Green came to attention when he took a five-wicket haul against Tasmania on debut as a 17-year-old while batting at No 8.

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The tall youngster is ready to return to bowling but Chappell said it was important to get into the Test team as a batsman before the strains of the Shield circuit see him break down again — as young bowlers inevitably will.

The first Test is more than a month away. There are two rounds of the Shield before that date and few spots open in the middle order.

Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne are immovable objects. Tim Paine is going nowhere and Travis Head defended his place with a resounding 171no for South Australia while Paine was keeping in the last match against Tasmania.

Matthew Wade has left a door open by opting to skip the first two Shield rounds in order to spend time with his young family.

While some counsel patience with Green, Chappell believes elite young players learn best when thrown in at the deep end and can rot on the vine if made to wait too long.

“This is a serious player, this is a special player,” he told The Australian. “He is the best young player I’ve seen since Ricky Ponting. He is our next superstar.

“I’ve been telling anyone who will listen for a couple of years now. I saw him a hit a couple of shots when he was 17 one day and it was obvious he was a batsman.

“You just have to pick him now before he breaks his back and he can’t play. My greatest fear about him is that everyone gets excited about his bowling and the kid can bowl, he is a rare talent there as well. But you know that if he bowls 20 to 30 overs a game for Western Australia he will break.”

Rising WA allrounder Cameron Green is viewed as our next big thing

Justin Langer was the Western Australia coach when Chappell for saw Green play and the former Australian captain rang him to say he had a kid “who could be anything”. At the time his state saw him primarily as a bowler, but Chappell was convinced his batting was key.

Langer is certainly cognisant of Green’s emerging skills and Paine is on board after seeing him bat in the Shield last year.

“Bradman, Harvey, myself, the Waughs, Ponting and Warner, they all played before they were ready,” Chappell said. “When I hear people say he isn’t ready now I ask them if they were ready when they played and nobody was. You are not ready until you play 10, 15, 20 Tests matches and then you work it out if you are good enough.”

While Green may not play the first Tests, getting him into the side and some games under his belt before the 2021-22 Ashes would be ideal.

Green bowled in the nets on Tuesday and said he would slowly build up his workload in the next few matches if needed.

“I’m having a couple more sessions before game day,” he told RSN radio. “Hopefully maybe a couple of overs this game but if that doesn’t happen, hopefully, the game after. But it will only be a handful of overs I would say.”

WA’s Cameron Green brings up his century against NSW last week

India named its squads for the Test, ODI and T20 series against Australia on Wednesday, leaving out opener Rohit Sharma and veteran bowler Ishant Sharma who are both injured, but indicated Rohit could still prove his fitness.

Mayank Agarwal, Prithvi Shaw and the uncapped Shubman Gill, who is highly rated by Ponting, are in line to open.

The exciting Mohammed Siraj is the fifth pace-bowling option behind Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav and Navdeep Saini. Ravindra Jadeja, Ravi Ashwin and Kuldeep Yadav are the Test spinning options.

Four additional bowlers will travel with the Indian contingent as large numbers will be needed to provide net practice and back-ups on a tour when replacements cannot be flown in.

Specialist Test batsmen Cheteshwar Pujara and Hanuma Vihari flew from India to the UAE this week to quarantine. Australian stars in the IPL, including Steve Smith, David Warner and Pat Cummins, will all fly on the same plane as the Indians at the end of the tournament on November 11.