Cameron Green is grateful slotting in at his preferred position having previously convinced himself he would need to open the batting to return to Australia’s Test side

Cameron Green admits part of his glee at being elevated to number four in Australia’s Test batting order stems from the hope he’ll be freed from the expectation he felt to score quickly in his previous role at number six.

Green had convinced himself that if he was to return to the starting XI, in which he was a regular fixture until last year’s Ashes tour, it would be as a direct replacement for retiring opener David Warner.

He was therefore excited and grateful when he learned last week that Steve Smith’s request to move to the top of the order had been granted and he would slot into his preferred number four position where he has dominated for Western Australia in the Marsh Sheffield Shield.

Green has averaged a touch above 65 when batting at four for WA, and therefore boasts considerable experience upon which to draw when he moves above number six for the first time in his 24-Test career.

But it’s a relaxing of the pressure he felt as the last recognised batter in Australia’s Test line-up, and more often the need he felt to continue the rapid scoring of whirlwind number five Travis Head, that most enthuses him about his impending promotion.

“I was so excited when I heard the news,” Green said today as Australia conducted their main training session ahead of the first NRMA Insurance Test against West Indies that begins at Adelaide Oval on Wednesday.

“I thought I was about a 95 per cent chance of opening, so that’s where my head went for a couple of weeks and I’m grateful to be at four.

“What I like is I’ve got a bit of time.

“I’ve always felt a touch rushed at six, especially after ‘Heady’ who makes it look a bit too easy at number five.

“So I’ve always felt like I’ve had to push the game along, whereas I feel like number four is my natural game where I can take my time and get settled in.”

While Green’s record at number four at domestic level – where he has posted seven centuries including a first-class personal best of 251 against Queensland at the Gabba – is remarkable, he will be entering largely uncharted territory for an Australian allrounder.

Doug Walters is the most recent Australia number four batter to post a century and take more than three wickets in a Test with his seam bowling, having added 3-12 to the 112 he scored in the first innings of the 1970-71 Ashes Test at the Gabba.

The last number four to combine a century with a five-wicket haul for Australia in Tests was former captain Richie Benaud who returned match figures of 9-154 as well as an even hundred against South Africa at Johannesburg in 1958.

But Green does not foresee that his elevation to second-drop in the batting order will bring a change of focus whereby his bowling takes a back seat, even though he’s one of two allrounders in the Australia XI alongside his WA teammate Mitch Marsh.

“Definitely still an allrounder,” Green said when asked if he was now considered solely a specialist batter.

“I’ve been doing it for WA for a few years, bowling a full quota (of overs) as well as batting at four so I’ve got no issue keeping the same load up.”
Green concedes that while his omission from the Test line-up for Marsh midway through last year’s Ashes campaign was a tough pill to swallow, it also gave him time after a hectic start to his international career in which to pause and take stock.

Having made his one-day international and Test debuts within a fortnight of one another in December 2020, the now 24-year-old squeezed 24 Tests, 23 ODIs and eight T20 internationals into the ensuing three years as well as a lucrative Indian Premier League deal.

He was fully understanding of the selectors’ rationale for preferring Marsh during the Ashes, a move that was vindicated when the more senior allrounder bludgeoned a memorable century on his return to Test cricket at Headingley.

He undertook a lengthy net session at Adelaide Oval during Sunday afternoon’s optional training session and, with Smith, was first into the nets again today as he prepares for his first Test outing since he batted at number seven (behind Marsh) at Old Trafford last July.

“It had been a whirlwind couple of years, and hadn’t really had a chance to sit down and think about my own game and where to go from here,” Green said today.

“There’s always a silver lining to not being in the team, and having a bit of time in the nets to work on my own game and try to improve.

“I just felt like I needed a long net yesterday.

“It’s always tough to replicate time in the middle, that’s the unfortunate things of not playing.

“You spend time in the nets and it might take you 20 or 30 balls out in the middle on game day to get back in the rhythm.

“But we’ve played a lot of cricket in the last few years, so it won’t take too long.”

If the reshuffling of the Test batting order following Warner’s departure does pay dividends, it will provide the selectors with a welcome break from history as they begin to plot a succession plan for an ageing outfit.

It’s been more than 30 years since a batter aged below 25 scored a half-century for Australia at number four in Tests, the most recent being Damien Martyn’s 74 against New Zealand at Auckland in 1993 when aged 22.

And the last of such tender years to score a Test century at second-drop for Australia was ex-captain Greg Chappell with his 106 against West Indies at Barbados just over 50 years ago, then aged 24.

But Green is not about to try and emulate those who have gone before him, and is backing himself to make the transition to the new job in his own time and manner.

“I try not to learn too much from other guys because I feel like I’m a different player to a lot of them,” Green said.

“So you try and bat like ‘Smudge’ (Smith) and ‘Marn’ (Marnus Labuschagne), but obviously I’m a bit different physically to them.

“Same as Mitch (Marsh), I’ve just loved how much he’s enjoying his game at the moment and it seems like he’s in a really good place.

“I don’t feel any pressure.

“Obviously replacing someone like Steve (Smith) is pretty tough, but I’m just going to play my own way.”