Green Eyes Consistency After Key Half-Century at No. 3 Against West Indies

Cameron Green, Australia's latest No.3 in Test cricket, expressed satisfaction with his resilient performance during the second innings of the Grenada Test against the West Indies on Saturday. Green's innings of 52 runs, achieved over 123 deliveries, marked his first half-century in the one-drop position. He also forged a significant 93-run partnership with Steve Smith, who celebrated his return to the team with a fluent 71.

Cameron Green displayed resilience at the crease, scoring a valuable 52 runs. © AFP

"You always need an innings here and there just to get you going, and hopefully today was one of those," Green stated following the day's play. "If anything, it's good to get some time out there; there's a lot of good things I get out of just spending time in the middle. My balls faced has been trending up; the runs haven't been there, but there's certainly little positives I can take out of it."

Following back surgery, Green missed the 2024-25 home season. He made a comeback to competitive cricket with a stint in County cricket with Gloucestershire. During his time there, he notched up three centuries in five County matches, including one in his first innings back. He entered the WTC final as the designated No.3 batter, with Marnus Labuschagne promoted to open alongside Usman Khawaja. Since then, Labuschagne has lost his Test spot, and Smith was sidelined for the first Test against the West Indies due to a hand injury. Before Saturday night, Green's stint at No.3 had been lackluster. He followed scores of 4, 0, 3, 15 and 26 with a gritty and patient 52 in tough conditions to keep Australia in front in the second Test.

"If you ask most of the guys in our changeroom, they've all batted number three their whole junior career, and no different with me," he commented on his new batting position. "I've batted number four for WA (and Australia), being one spot up is no different."

He added, "I don't think I ever really felt comfortable out there (on that pitch) - certainly (Friday) night was tricky and just with the new ball today (Saturday), I had to start again. You could probably ask a different question to Steve; he was batting on a different wicket. He's clearly a class above - that's a tough wicket, so to play as well as he did was incredible."

The extended injury layoff before the WTC final means Green is currently not fully available as an all-rounder, participating solely as a batter.

"To be able to sneak into (the team) while still not bowling, I'm incredibly grateful for that, and hopefully my output can be a little better than it has been. But today was a nice sign that things are trending well," he said. He also provided an estimated timeline for his return to bowling.

"I've certainly had enough rest, so my back is not an issue, it's more getting load ups now. It'll be a steady progression, and hopefully around a couple of the Shield games (I'll be bowling), potentially one-dayers against India (in October), but those are all pretty far away, so we'll wait and see."