No Green envy as selectors face tough allrounder call

Cameron Green is happy to bat wherever required in Australia's top-order if it means regaining his place in the Ashes starting XI, but admits it might be "a bit of a stretch" to reprise his white-ball role as an opener.

Green's absence from the third Test due to a minor hamstring "niggle" opened the door for fellow allrounder Mitchell Marsh, whose blazing century in Australia's first innings has presented selectors with a quandary as they ponder the line-up for the next match at Old Trafford starting Wednesday.

Amid the scenarios floated whereby both Western Australians might feature in the same team was having either Green or Marsh elevated to opening – a position both have filled in limited-overs cricket of late – as a replacement for David Warner who scored 4 and 1 at Headingley.

But having never batted above No.4 in his six-year first-class career to date, Green concedes it would likely be asking too much of an allrounder to take on the new ball with the bat, and then take the older one for potentially lengthy spells when it came time to bowl.

Image Id: 5D5DC5D31F604AFB8F9DBE7B96AAFA97 Image Caption: Cameron Green was forced to watch on at Headingley, ruled out due to a minor hamstring complaint // Getty

Indeed, the 24-year-old believes batting anywhere in the top four would be a tough assignment if he was also expected to bowl the 15 overs per match he averaged across the first two Tests of this Ashes campaign.

"It might be a bit tougher as an allrounder when you have to bowl your 15 to 20 (overs) a game and then also bat No.4," Green said.

"I think being an allrounder … probably Shane Watson is the only (opener) who comes to mind doing that (and) I'm not too sure how much he bowled.

"But I think anyone would be happy to bat anywhere to play Test cricket.

"You always put your hand up for selection but have to wait and see what selectors think."

Given the similarities between Green and Watson – both technically correct, if hard-hitting batters also capable of bowling 140kph-plus – it's worth noting how often the latter combined bowling duties with opening the innings.

Watson opened the batting in 29 of his 59 Test appearances for Australia, and in 19 of those he was called upon to bowl 10 or more overs.

Of those 19 Tests where he combined the gruelling dual roles, only once – against West Indies at Adelaide in 2010-11 – did he score more than 50 with the bat (144 and 96) as well as claim three or more wickets with the ball (3-72).

Prior to Watson, the only other regular opener also required to bowl lengthy spells of medium-pace or above was South Africa's Trevor Goddard who played 41 Tests from 1955 to the time of the nation's isolation due to their apartheid laws in 1970.

While claiming it would be "incredible" to play alongside his fellow allrounder and close friend Marsh in a Test, Green acknowledges it remains a long shot though it will be up to selectors to decide whether it becomes a reality.

"We both have a great relationship together," he said.

"We're so happy for each other when one gets picked … (and) I kind of look up to Mitch, so I'm so happy to see him play well."

Image Id: ED04FECAF3CC47488F38E94300576E30 Image Caption: Green and Marsh together on the Lord’s balcony // Getty

Green revealed the decision to rest him from Australia's eventual three-wicket loss at Headingley was "precautionary" with the hamstring injury so minor he would have played had the game been the final of a limited-overs tournament or the decisive Test of the series.

He then opted against taking a break immediately after that match, despite most of his teammates heading away for a few days rest and recreation elsewhere in the UK or beyond, and instead returned to training at Sale on the outskirts of greater Manchester on Friday.

"(There was) no real issues at the time," Green said.

"It was more it's just a long tour, and I think everyone wanted to get a break throughout one of the games so that was my game.

"It was nice to have a bit of a break (but) the body is all good."

Green sustained the minor injury when running a single during his knock of 18 in Australia's second innings at Lord's, but was so unconcerned by the problem he subsequently sent down 13 overs of mostly bouncers during England's failed pursuit of 371.

He denied that such a sustained spell of short-pitched bowling had placed additional strain on his body, but acknowledges the tactic – which skipper Pat Cummins says may be deployed again by Australia if pitch conditions dictate – represented unfamiliar territory.

"I think bowling six bouncers (an over) isn't natural for anybody," Green said.

"It was just what we needed at the time.

"Nathan Lyon went down (with a calf injury) and we had to try and find a way to be aggressive on a wicket that wasn’t giving us much.

"I'd do anything to help the team."

The question selectors George Bailey (chair), Tony Dodemaide (duty selector in UK) and Andrew McDonald (coach) must weigh up is whether Marsh's stunning return at Headingley (146 runs and 2-32) keeps him in the XI ahead of Green who admits he's faced his challenges in the first two Ashes Tests.

The highly rated allrounder has scored 84 runs (average 24) in his four Ashes innings of this campaign in addition to three wickets at a cost of 57 runs apiece, although his catching at gully has proved decisive on several occasions.

The most notable difference between the two Australia allrounders has been their batting strike rates, with Marsh scoring at a 'Bazball'-esque rate of 85.9 per 100 balls faced despite going to the wicket with Australia in strife at 4-85 on day one at Headingley.

By contrast, Green has taken a far more measured approach to batting in the middle-order with a scoring rate less than half that of Marsh's (41.2) which might become another relevant factor when selectors make their call for Old Trafford.

"I don’t think he did anything too different to how people want to bat at number six, or how he's been doing it the last few years," Green said when asked if he gleaned anything from the way Marsh went about his batting at Headingley.

"You can see early in his innings he was taking his time, leaving, defending really well.

"When he felt in, he was playing his shots which he has been doing.

"It's been a tour so far with a lot of learning.

"Most of the time I've got myself out, rather than to do with the conditions.

"I think that's to do with the wickets, it's been quite flat.

"That probably wasn’t what we expected coming over here, but you've got to adapt and learn on the go.

"I'm just trying to learn as much as I can and hopefully it holds me in good stead moving forward."

2023 Qantas Ashes Tour of the UK

First Test: Australia won by two wickets

Second Test: Australia won by 43 runs

Third Test: England won by three wickets

Fourth Test: Wednesday July 19-Sunday July 23, Old Trafford

Fifth Test: Thursday July 27-Monday 31, The Oval

Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey (wk), Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis (wk), Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Todd Murphy, Michael Neser, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith (vc), Mitchell Starc, David Warner

England squad: Ben Stokes (c), Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Jonny Bairstow, Stuart Broad, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Dan Lawrence, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root, Josh Tongue, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood