Green returns to unfamiliar 'home' with fresh swagger

Cameron Green has spent two nights out of the last four months in his own bed, has barely sighted a red ball for the past eight weeks and has never played a competitive match in the United Kingdom.

Yet both the young fulcrum of Australia's Test side himself, and his more experienced teammates who have closely observed his rise, believe a series of breakthrough moments in India have Green primed to spearhead their World Test Championship final and Ashes campaigns.

The 23-year-old has even suggested England's aggressive 'Bazball' approach to batting has shown that the type of stroke play he displayed in the Indian Premier League may not need to be reined in quite as much as he has previously when switching from T20 to Test cricket.

Green was the last of the Aussies' extended Test squad to arrive in the UK after living up to his A$3.15 million price tag in the Indian Premier League as he helped the Mumbai Indians get within one win of an appearance in the final.

He admits he spent little time during the IPL worrying about facing or bowling with a red ball given his focus on what was immediately in front of him.

Image Id: 836142CFFCE74AC1ADB844F69C6DFBAB Image Caption: Green celebrates his IPL century for Mumbai // Getty

And now the prodigious multi-talented star, who has only visited the UK once before as a 12-year-old to see his English mother's family in Essex despite holding a British passport, will have just a solitary week of long-form cricket preparation before taking on India at The Oval on Wednesday.

But having learnt from a slow start to the last Australian summer when he struggled with refamiliarising himself with his Test batting routines, Green is more assured in how he will make the transition.

"The more you get exposed to it, the easier it gets," Green, who made a quick dash home to Perth for two days between the IPL and arriving in England, told cricket.com.au ahead of the WTC Final.

"That's what I'm trying to take into it this time making the change. I kind of know what worked last time and what didn't, so I'm just trying to learn how to adjust quicker and better.

"The way that England have been playing their cricket has been quite aggressive, so maybe you don't have to change too much.

"Probably starting (my innings) last year, I probably looked to defend a bit too much instead of just looking to score. Then you can defend after when you see a good ball, just making good decisions out there.

"So this time round it will be looking to score, and then if it's a good ball, defend."

Green completed the IPL as arguably the tournament's standout Australian player, finishing with an average above 50, a strike-rate north of 160 and a 47-ball hundred that sealed Mumbai's playoff spot.

Yet his Australian teammates had already noticed his confidence had spiked earlier in his four-month spell in India when he brought up triple-figures in Test cricket for the first time during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series finale.

Usman Khawaja was down the other end when Green got to his long-awaited ton.

"I know what it's like – it took me nine or 10 (goes) to get my first hundred over the span of like four years and I know what the feeling was to be able to achieve that," Khawaja told cricket.com.au.

Image Id: 42C37AE780BA48AE8CF84C1075048C87 Image Caption: Green bats during Australia's training session at Beckenham last Thursday // ICC via Getty

"After I got my first one, the floodgates just opened and it's always the case. You get the first one and the next few just happen because you've been there, you've done it. And I think as teammates, we all knew that.

"He's such a legend, he's such a nice guy. You only want the best for him, so I really enjoyed it."

Nathan Lyon, another senior mentor for the emerging Green, suggested: "his presence around the around the team has definitely changed after being a part of that IPL and after scoring that hundred in Ahmedabad.

"He's growing in confidence and being himself more, coming out of his shell a little bit more around the team.

"I think that just comes from being able to hang in there and play the IPL and be around the likes of (Mumbai and India Test captain) Rohit Sharma and these guys to learn off them."

Green has vowed to take a score-first mentality into this northern summer's UK tour but he is not oblivious to the challenges of batting in England, where weather and pitch conditions during and between Tests can vary far more greatly than they do in Australia.

He said he has been leaning on his middle-order partner Marnus Labuschagne, among others, for tips on how to handle those variables.

"You do gain a lot from just watching," said Green, who has spent extensive time working on his defence during training sessions at Beckenham leading into the WTC Final.

"Maybe potentially not looking so straight when you look to drive, it's more going with it and playing late.

"Any way you can learn talking to those guys away from cricket obviously helps."

From his vantage point square of the wicket where he fields at point, Lyon believes Green had been the fastest of the Australian bowlers during the 2021-22 Ashes series, pipping even Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins.

While the veteran acknowledges the youngest member of the Australian attack bowled significantly fewer overs than the main bowlers, his statement is a sign of just how rare a prospect Australia's No.6 is.

And Green is now swiftly getting into the groove of bowling with the British Dukes ball, which varies slightly from the Dukes ball he has experience using during trials in the Marsh Sheffield Shield over recent years.

"Everyone, especially being a bowler, looks forward to coming over here with the swing," he said.

Image Id: 85C63B5E7826436B8850F5083982435E Image Caption: Green lets rip with the Dukes ball during Australia's training camp in Beckenham // Getty

"Normally when I bowl in Australia, it's not doing too much so I'm pretty excited that there's something I can use over here.

"A few of the guys talk about it swinging a bit too much – so (I'm) just getting the skillsets up with the wobble seam and just playing around with all that."

2023 Qantas Tour of the UK

World Test Championship Final: Wednesday June 7-Sunday June 11, The Oval

First Test: Friday June 16-Tuesday June 20, Edgbaston

Second Test: Wednesday June 28-Sunday July 2, Lord’s

Third Test: Thursday July 6-Monday July 10, Headingley

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