Back surgery: Green to sacrifice Indian summer for long-term

Cameron Green is likely to sacrifice the Indian summer for back surgery it is hoped will allow him to bowl bigger overs as an allrounder in the future.

Cricket Australia medical staff met with Green on Thursday afternoon to discuss having surgery in New Zealand. The operation and its recovery period would rule Green, 25, out of Test cricket in Australia until next summer’s Ashes series.

Cameron Green has a chat to Pat Cummins.Credit: Getty Images

The continuing presence of back stress issues at this stage of Green’s career has pushed him towards having surgery.

Surgeons in New Zealand have mastered the procedure to repair back stress fractures for the likes of James Pattinson and Shane Bond.

The option for surgery would not only deprive Australia of Green’s services for the home Tests against India but is also a gamble in the sense that it does not guarantee a perfect outcome afterwards.

Pattinson returned to play for Australia on the 2019 Ashes tour after a year out of the game, but retired in 2021 amid complaints of chronic pain related to the rigours of bowling.

However it may be the best pathway Green can travel to be the kind of allrounder he has long dreamed of becoming for Australia, capable of making big hundreds while also winning matches with his pace bowling.

A formal statement on Green’s back injury and mode of treatment is expected on Friday.

Almost all the instances of this kind of surgery on back stress fractures have been for cricketers who are full-time fast bowlers: Bond, Pattinson, Jason Behrendorff and Lockie Ferguson, among others.

Green, however, is seen across Australian cricket as the outstanding young batter of his generation. That talent was on full display during his first Test hundred against India in Ahmedabad in March 2023, and then with another superb century against New Zealand in Wellington earlier this year.

Australian cricket’s medical experts have tended to prefer the non-surgical approach to stress fractures. Test captain Pat Cummins was the prime example of this, working through a series of issues as a young bowler before his body matured and strengthened around the age of 25.

Australia’s then team doctor Richard Saw said when Pattinson chose to have surgery in 2017 it was a departure from their usual approach.

“As a doctor speaking, it’s always better to do things without surgery than with surgery, because there are some inherent risks from any operation. But we are exploring surgical options for James because of the complexity of his case,” Saw said.

James Pattinson during the last of his 21 Test matches, against New Zealand at the SCG. Credit: AAP

In his early days playing for Western Australia, Green was used primarily as a pace bowler who batted down the order, before more nationally minded observers such as the former selector Greg Chappell championed his batting.

It was runs that vaulted Green into the Test team in 2020 against India, but Green has always spoken of his love for both strings to his bow. As a child, he wanted to emulate both Ricky Ponting and Brett Lee.

“When I was younger, Ricky Ponting and Brett Lee were at the top of their games,” Green said in 2021. “So everyone wanted to bowl as quick as they could and Brett Lee was the quickest, so he was someone in the backyard you tried to pretend you were him. Then I had a Kookaburra Kahuna just like Ricky’s, so that’s pretty funny to look back on.

“You’ve got to really prioritise, because you can’t do both at the same time. Before a day’s play I prioritise bowling. Stretching, doing everything you need to get right for bowling. You can always catch-up with batting … but you can’t really rush bowling. It’s hard to flick between both, but you find a middle ground.”

Is this the unorthodox solution to Australia’s Test opener conundrum?

Jon Pierik

Test great Ian Healy says Australian selectors should consider the unorthodox move of playing Mitch Marsh as an opening batter in next month’s Test series against India, arguing Travis Head should remain in the middle order.

Who partners Usman Khawaja at the top of the order when the battle for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy begins in Perth on November 22 will be one of the most important calls the selectors have made in recent years.

Worth a look: Test great Ian Healy says Mitch Marsh should be considered for an opening role against India this summer.Credit: Getty Images

Steve Smith is Khawaja’s incumbent partner, but his questionable form in the role and the quality of India’s attack may mean Australia are best served returning him to No.4, where he’s built a career as one of the game’s greatest stroke makers.

Head, the middle-order slugger, has been touted as a potential opener, first-class cricket officials noting this possibility six weeks ago.

Specialist openers Marcus Harris, Cameron Bancroft and Matt Renshaw are in the frame, while all-rounder Cameron Green appears no longer an option as he is in doubt for the series because of a back issue.

But former Test wicketkeeper Healy has thrown up Marsh’s name, despite the all-rounder and fill-in ODI skipper having never opened the batting at Test level.

“I think there is a reluctance from Travis to go up, which I would agree with. He is a much more scary proposition when the ball isn’t doing as much,” Healy told SportsBoom.

“He should be able to enjoy middle-order freedom. I feel Cameron Green or Mitch Marsh might have been good options, and we know Marnus [Labuschagne] can do that job, but he is also valuable at No.3. I also like Smith opening the batting, maybe more than he does.”

Travis Head: Elevate to the top or stay in the middle order?Credit: AP

Australia’s vulnerability at the top was central to its demise on India’s past two Test visits here.

“Now Green has a back injury, the pressure might be off, and Marsh might go out and open, and Smith drops down to four, with Marnus and Head on either side. I am not sure who would bat No.6,” Healy said.

While Marsh is a technically sound batsman who has opened the batting on multiple occasions in ODI cricket over the past two years, he averages a modest 30.45 with three centuries in 42 Tests.

This slips to 18.33 in five Tests against India, the most recent of which was at the MCG in 2018. He has stated his preference is to bat in the middle order in Test cricket.

Smith, with a career average of 61.5 at No.4, has averaged a modest 28.5 in eight innings since replacing the retired David Warner at the top midway through last summer. Test great Matthew Hayden has said it would be “crazy” to retain Smith in this role.

Head has batted in the middle order for South Australia in their clash against NSW in Sydney, under the eye of Australia’s selection chairman George Bailey.

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