Australia’s head coach, Andrew McDonald, has all but confirmed that Cameron Green remains central to the Test team’s plans when the programme picks up again in Bangladesh this August, even after the all-rounder’s flat Ashes campaign.
Green’s series numbers were ordinary – 24.42 with the bat and 70.75 with the ball – and the lowlights are still fresh: that swipe at Brydon Carse in Brisbane, two loose drives in Adelaide, and a self-inflicted run-out at the MCG. Across 37 Tests since debuting in 2020, he now averages 32.75 with the bat and 38.94 with the ball, figures that don’t yet match the talent most judges see.
Yet the raw data never tells the full story. Green spent much of 2025 recovering from back surgery, missed the following home summer, and has repeatedly been shuffled up and down the order to plug gaps. His first-class record remains strong – 45.52 overall, 53.38 in the Sheffield Shield – and he signed off the Australian season with a century for Western Australia.
Speaking on SEN radio, McDonald made the hierarchy’s stance clear. “I think the answer to that is, yes,” he said when asked whether Green would keep his place. “I’ve got to talk to the selectors around that, there’s a couple of others on the panel. But if you looked at the last team, let’s just take that, Usman [Khawaja] has retired, and he vacates the No. 5 position where he was opening and he went to five to finish off. But you’ve got Webster and Green that potentially can play in the same team, should we see it that way, so that gives us incredible flexibility.
“But I think he’s [Green] good enough. Anyone that’s averaging that at Shield level suggests that he’s ahead of the pack there, and it’s only a matter of time before it gets to a situation where he’s performing for Australia.
“I think he’s got a few things to work on around his game, but that’s no different to anyone else.”
Flexibility is the word McDonald keeps returning to. If both Green and Beau Webster – another tall, seam-bowling batter – slot in, Australia can travel with a lighter squad, mix-and-match the attack and shield frontline quicks from heavy workloads. The pair were pencilled in at Nos. 7 and 8 for January’s SCG Test, although a Michael Neser nightwatchman shift dropped them one spot apiece. Webster cashed in with 71 not out and three wickets, a performance that should keep him front of mind for Dhaka and Chattogram.
The two also shared four straight Tests last year – the World Test Championship final against South Africa and the West Indies series – while Green was unable to bowl and instead went in at first drop. Even then, Webster was nudged aside for the Ashes once Mitchell Marsh recovered fitness, an awkward reminder of how quickly the pecking order can change.
Green’s frustration boiled over in Sydney recently during a terse exchange with a journalist, something McDonald addressed. That moment, he said, was “very unlike Cameron Green”, and a sign of the strain of juggling three formats. The 26-year-old is currently with Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL, where he is also trying to fine-tune his red-ball technique between white-ball fixtures.
Away from home, the numbers improve: 36.69 with the bat compared to 28.96 in Australia. McDonald reckons the domestic focus can skew perception. “I think there’s a lens in Australia that’s slightly bias towards what he’s done overseas,” he noted, hinting that punters tend to over-analyse the local failures while overlooking the progress on the road.
Green’s task is straightforward but hardly simple: turn those glimpses into consistent returns, preferably before the Bangladesh series. For now, the backing is firm and public. Whether that faith translates into runs and wickets on slow, turning pitches in August will go a long way to defining his next chapter.
