Cameron Green has credited a return to the Sheffield Shield for preparing him for the rigours of Test cricket following his breakout century on day one of the Wellington Test against New Zealand.
Anyone who doubted whether Green was worthy of the crucial No. 4 spot in the Test side has been silenced after the all-rounder rescued Australia at the Basin Reserve on Thursday, blasting an unbeaten 174 in tricky conditions.
Following an early collapse in the New Zealand capital, the 24-year-old anchored Australia’s innings before switching to white-ball mode in the evening session, racing from fifty to triple figures in just 46 deliveries and bringing up his second Test hundred on the penultimate delivery of the day.
On Friday morning, Green and tailender Josh Hazlewood formed a 116-run partnership for the tenth wicket to frustrate the hosts and steer Australia towards a respectable team total of 383.
It was the most significant innings of Green’s career to date — his maiden Test century occurred in batting-friendly conditions, a high-scoring contest in Ahmedabad, while Thursday’s knock proved he was the real deal, cementing his spot at second drop.
Following David Warner’s retirement, Green was shoehorned into Australia’s Test side at No. 4, with vice-captain Steve Smith reinventing himself as an opener. The national selectors risked contorting Australia’s batting line-up to ensure the country’s six best batters were in the starting XI, a decision that paid dividends on Thursday.
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Cam Green’s HEROIC 100 in New Zealand! | 05:34
Speaking to reporters at stumps on day one, Green confessed the Wellington century was “equally as relieving as my first one”, coming after a lean 12 months in red-ball cricket for the West Australian.
The right-hander confessed the sport’s compressed schedule for multi-format players had taken its toll, struggling to flip between the formats throughout a busy 18 months on the road.
Green prepared for last year’s Test campaign in the United Kingdom with a two-month stint with the Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League, while he missed the first half of this summer’s Sheffield Shield because he was carrying drinks at the World Cup.
“It’s been always one or two net sessions, then thrown in the deep end a little bit,” Green said.
“But that’s what international cricket’s like at the moment, unfortunately. It’s been a pretty busy 18 months, and there’s not much practice in between changing formats. It’s just a bit of a work in progress for myself.
“I’m trying to obviously learn off guys that do it quite regularly — Steve (Smith), Mitch Marsh, Dave Warner — I think they stay true to their technique.
“It’s something that I need to work on, not changing so much between formats.”
Green has also found it difficult to adjust his batting technique when switching between T20 cricket and Tests, where it’s preferable to play the ball under your eyeline.
“It’s just a bit different, the contact point,” Green explained.
“Playing T20 cricket you’ve got to reach out in front of you to hit a six and red-ball cricket you’ve got to let it come to you.
“That’s what I found challenging, just adapting to that so quickly, but the best players in the world seem to do that pretty easily.”
Last month, the Australian selectors resisted the urge to add Green to the T20 squad after fellow all-rounders Marcus Stoinis and Aaron Hardie were ruled out of the New Zealand series with injury, ensuring he could get some red-ball cricket under his belt before the Test tour.
On a similar green deck in Hobart, Green compiled a fourth-innings century against Tasmania in a drawn Sheffield Shield contest, which proved vital preparation ahead of the Test campaign across the Tasman.
“I think that’s probably the beauty of getting another red-ball game,” Green continued.
“You got a really good chance to lock into your own bubble and would be able to basically practice switching on and switching off in between deliveries and going through your methods.”
Former Australian wicketkeeper Brad Haddin praised the national selectors for that recognising Green needed to prioritise red-ball domestic cricket rather than play the T20 series in New Zealand.
“Going back to the decision to leave Cameron Green at home and allow him to play a Shield game, he got hundred in that Shield game in preparation for the Tests,” Haddin said on commentary.
“What the Australian selectors did really well there is that he is in a new role, he is in a pressurised role at No. 4 for Australia, but it gave him the best preparation you could possibly get leading into such an important Test match.”
With Courtney Walsh