Pat Cummins has made it clear he wants Cameron Green to grow into Australia’s long-term No.3, even after a sparse World Test Championship final, as the side begins a gentle reset before this winter’s Ashes.
The basic facts first. Green managed just four runs at Lord’s, Kagiso Rabada removing him twice in five balls. Steven Smith’s finger injury has opened a spot at No.4 for the first Test against West Indies in Barbados, yet the selectors have resisted a shuffle: Josh Inglis will bat four, Sam Konstas returns at two, and Green stays where he is. Cummins sees stability as the quicker route to progress.
“I always like to not have too many moving parts,” the captain said. “We see that [Green at No. 3] as a long-term option… we’re really happy with where his game’s placed and I dare say we’ll get a decent run of number three.”
Green, 25, had arrived at Lord’s on the back of three hundreds for Gloucestershire, so confidence was hardly an issue. Cummins’s message is not to fret over a bad game that lasted “three or four balls”. The logic is simple enough: bed him in now, reap the gains in England later.
The consequence is that Marnus Labuschagne, who averaged 26 across his last eight Tests, has slipped out of the immediate picture. Cummins was careful to point out the door is not closed. “I think him at his best is a well and truly an international standard Test batter. If there’s an opening we could see him fighting his way back… He’s had a pretty good run and obviously didn’t make the most of it as well as he would like.”
Smith, meanwhile, continues rehab on the compound dislocation of his right little finger. He is due to fly back from New York midway through the Barbados match and could, at a push, return for Grenada on 3 July. “He’s got a few return-to-play protocols he’s got to tick off,” Cummins said. “I know the medical team have got a bit of a programme for him.”
That uncertainty leaves Australia with only three survivors from the famous Gabba defeat to West Indies last year: Usman Khawaja, Green and Travis Head. The visitors have not been shy about reviving memories of that Brisbane afternoon, especially new captain Roston Chase.
“I hope there are some scars,” Chase laughed when asked whether Australia might still dwell on Shamar Joseph’s 7-32. “If they’re still thinking about that going out there tomorrow, that would be very good for us. I think that that would be part of the job done for us. So, yeah, I hope they’re still hurting.”
Cummins had spoken only minutes earlier: “A couple of the West Indian guys, particularly Shamar, had a day out. I’m sure the batters have been talking about how to manage—” He broke off with a shrug, the rest implied rather than stated. The sub-text: learn the lessons, but don’t over-think them.
For all the tweaks, Australia remain favourites on paper. Yet the batting order is lighter on experience than it has been for years, and Green’s elevation is the clearest sign that the selectors are planning beyond the next fortnight. Whether that faith is repaid, we find out soon enough.
