McDonald backs Green despite lean Ashes run

While Australia were a force to be reckoned with during their home Ashes campaign against England, their all-rounder Cameron Green had a below average outing in the series, averaging 24.42 with the willow and 70.75 with the ball. Complicating the matters further, Beau Webster, a like-for-like option for Green thrived with 71 runs and three wickets in his only Ashes outing during the summer.

But Green is firmly in Australia’s long-term Test plans, with head coach Andrew McDonald reaffirming his backing of the allrounder.

Green endured a difficult World Test Championship series against England, returning modest numbers with both bat and ball, but McDonald made it clear the team management continues to have strong faith in his long-term value.

Speaking to SEN Radio, McDonald made it clear the team management continues to have strong faith in his long-term value.

“He’s [Green] good enough and it’s only a matter of time before it gets to a situation where he’s performing for Australia,” McDonald said when asked if there is an intention to persist with Green in the Test XI.

One of the reasons behind Green’s backing was his continued impressive run in first-class cricket.

After 37 Tests since his debut in 2020, Green has a batting average of 32.75 with two centuries and a bowling return of 38.94, but his numbers rise substantially in first-class cricket, averaging 45.52 with the bat. This goes further up in Australia's domestic competition, Sheffield Shield, and becomes 53.38.

“Anyone that’s averaging that at Shield level suggests that he’s ahead of the pack there,

“To me, it’s only a matter of time before that connects into Test cricket,” noted McDonald.

The coach also pointed to the unique pressures faced by allrounders in the Australian setup, drawing comparisons with past players who took time to establish themselves.

“You only have to look a short time ago: Mitch Marsh’s journey, and Shane Watson, and even Andrew Symonds at the start of his career,” he said. “There is an expectation around allrounders, it’s almost like they want them to average 45 with the bat and less than 30 with the ball. And there’s been very few that do that.”

Cameron Green celebrates after scoring a century for Western Australia in the Sheffield Shield Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images

The head coach also opined that with Khawaja's retirement, options remained open for Australia to feature both Green and Webster.

"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 [during the final stages of his career]. 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."

McDonald also spoke on Australia’s Men’s T20 World Cup failure, as they crashed out of the group stages with losses to Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka.

“Yeah, not our finest and an incredibly disappointing campaign,” McDonald said on Australia’s run.

“For a team that's over the two-year period post the West Indies World Cup, winning at 80% and doing a lot right, we did have a few moving parts late.”

McDonald opined that Australia’s campaign preparations were hampered by untimely injuries to key players.

“We lost Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins and then Mitch Marsh wasn't able to play the first couple of games, but there are no excuses.”

Australia's next Test assignment comes up against Bangladesh at home in August, when they feature in a two-Test series in Darwin and Mackay.