Australia, much like Dorian Gray staring at his portrait, has long been in search of their vision of perfection. The allrounder. The Keith Miller.
Since the “nugget” retired in 1956 Australia has looked for that next cricketer who could bring them their holy grail. A man who could merge both batting and bowling in one magnificent package. Australia has Cameron Green, but whether he is the finished portrait is yet to be seen.
Keith Miller himself was in some ways much like Dorian Gray. Handsome. Both carried a presence; you just need to swap Dorian’s golden locks with Miller’s brown.
Cameron Green has been part of the international scene for years and has shown more than just glimpses of his promise. He debuted in the 2020-21 BGT, in the infamous “36” test match. His first notable contribution came a couple of test matches later in Sydney where he scored 84, in the shadows of imminent declaration, but we saw the absolute disdain with which he can deal with fast bowlers.
Green possesses this shot where he clears the front leg and winds up with his long leavers and swings through the line, depositing pacers over long on and deep mid wicket.
Siraj was given this treatment on three separate occasions. Even Bumrah wasn’t spared. He went full and straight and was drilled for four. Next ball he dropped short and green launched into it, heaving it over deep square leg well into the stands. But because Bumrah is Bumrah, he picked up Green the next ball.
This was the first brushstroke on Green’s canvas, but we didn’t see too many immediately after that.
His first few years in test cricket saw him play the occasional good innings or pick up a decent haul of wickets. When tested against Sri Lanka in Galle he notched up 77. But Green’s form dipped from there. From that innings onwards to the 4th Ashes test in 2023, Green’s average with the bat was 20.38 and with the ball was 41.93. In fact, of the 14 wickets that he had taken in that time span, over a third of them had come in one innings against South Africa.
Australia’s next big — it every sense — was struggling.
For the fifth test in the 2023 Ashes, he was left out in favour of Mitch Marsh who swash buckled his way to a 100 in Manchester.
But David Warner’s retirement at the top of the order opened another door up for Cameron Green. He didn’t even need to really open the door, let alone the batting. Steve Smith did that for him. In what must be one of the more baffling decisions in modern cricket — it was Steve Smith — Australia’s stalwart at 4, who wanted to open the batting in an era where it had seldom been tougher. Green slotted into the vacated number 4 spot.
It was batting at 4 where he played his finest innings yet. Australia was staring down the barrel of a small first innings score when Josh Hazlewood walked out to join Green in the middle, with the score at 267/9 in Wellington. Together, they stitched 116 for the last wicket, with Green finishing unbeaten on 174*. In the other three innings of the test match, neither team crossed 200.
But just as Green looked to get rolling, he picked up a stress fracture in his spine and he was out of the 2024-2025 BGT.
Whilst Green was sidelined, Australia played musical chairs with their batting order. McSweeney was in and McSweeney was gone. The Smith experiment was over, and he was back at home at number 4. Even though Konstas opened in the latter half of the BGT, Labuschagne was pencilled in to open in the WTC final. Oh, and Marsh was gone, with the ‘slug’ Beau Webster brought in.
Australia were desperate to get Green back into the canvas of their first XI, but the easel had shifted. It wouldn’t be the no.4, that was returned to Steve Smith. Green would be thrust into first drop, a position where no one in world cricket is scoring any runs. In his return test match across the two innings, Green played a total of four balls and scored 4 runs. At least the strike rate was healthy.
It didn’t look as though it was getting any better in the first test match against the West Indies either, scoring 3 and 15 in Barbados. But in the next couple of tests, in exceptionally trying conditions, Australia’s vision of Green looked as though it was taking shape.
Towards the end of day 2 in Sabina Park, Australia looked in real danger of being bowled out in a single session. The pink ball and flood lights of Sabina Park making batting look impossible. Australia were 69/6 at the end of the 21st over, with around 10 overs of hell still to come. Green faced nearly 11 overs worth of deliveries that session and scored nearly half of Australia’s 99 run tally for the session.
Throughout his career the big man from WA has always looked a very nervous starter, almost timid in his approach. The knocks in the West Indies however offered the first real sign that he was beginning to assert himself.
Green’s form has continued into the white ball set up. As Australia enter the Brave New World in limited overs cricket, Green is set to become their fulcrum in both the T20 and ODI side. He was the player of the series in their 5-0 sweep over the West Indies and has lately illustrated his ODI aptitude in a blistering 100 against South Africa.
Green’s bowling remains a question mark. A career average of 35.31 is not exactly flattering, but you’d expect as he matures his raw skills in the form of freakish height and ability to conventionally swing the bowl should come to the fore. But the bigger question mark is around his body.
The flexibility Green provides hinges upon his ability to bowl spells of the short stuff and allow the main quicks to have a break.
The coming Ashes will provide plenty of paint for Cameron Green’s portrait. At present, there seems to be sketch, the faint outlines of a figure who could be anything. The first dabs of colour are well and truly placed, flashes of brilliance on both home and foreign soil.
Oscar Wilde revealed the truth about Dorian Gray’s soul through the decay of his portrait. With Cameron Green we are not looking for a window into his soul, only into his cricketing destiny. We are looking to see if we are watching Australia’s next great all-rounder.
About the Author: Moosa Niazi
Brisbane kid who’s chasing narratives. Cricket, F1 and everywhere in between, trying to justify the hours lost watching them.
