Cameron Green is likely to miss the Border-Gavaskar Trophy as back surgery looks like a big possibility

Australia’s Cameron Green celebrates the wicket of England’s Will Jacks. , Photo courtesy: Reuters

Australian all-rounder Cameron Green is very likely to miss the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy against India in November this year as back surgery is a big possibility for the youngster after suffering the latest injury during the white-ball series against England.

According to ESPN Cricinfo, the surgery is a legitimate option among several other recovery plans for Green being considered by Cricket Australia’s medical and high performance team after suffering the injury during the UK tour for the white-ball series against Scotland and England. Work is being done to go green.

Green returned home from the UK after complaining of back pain after the third ODI against England at Chester-le-Street. Although he had scans in England and Australia, CA’s medical team are taking their time in assessing how to proceed with his injury, with no formal plans released.

The 25-year-old all-rounder has suffered four stress fractures, but not one since 2019. He has been managed really well in his first four years of international cricket. If he opts to go under the knife, it will rule him out for the entire Test summer.

However, taking the non-surgical route means he can still play some cricket in the Test summer, albeit as a specialist batsman. Also, the time limit of their availability is also not clear yet.

His absence from the series will be a major blow for Australia, as they are looking forward to a possible batting reshuffle after a tremendous start to the new era of Steve Smith’s career as an opening batsman.

An indication of his batting position will be given when he plays Sheffield Shield cricket for New South Wales against Victoria in Sydney on Sunday.

Smith’s performance in four Tests and eight innings as an opening batsman has been disappointing, scoring only 171 runs at an average of 28.50, including one half-century.

His highest score as an opener is 91*.

Green is batting at number four and has proved his effectiveness this year by scoring 174 runs against New Zealand.

If Green makes himself unavailable and Smith moves back to number four, Australia could get a new Test opener from Shield cricket, with Marcus Harris, Cameron Bancroft and Matt Renshaw among the contenders. Before Smith stepped forward to open, all of them were options to replace David Warner after his retirement.

Harris also made a good start to his Shield season by scoring 143 runs for Victoria against Tasmania. Apart from this, Tasmania’s all-rounder Beau Webster scored a century. Bancroft and Renshaw made low scores during the first innings of the match between Western Australia and Queensland.