Cam Green: West Australian all-rounder could play World Test Championship final, selection boss confirms

West Australian all-rounder Cam Green could return to the national team in time for the World Test Championship final. That is according to selection chair George Bailey as Green ramps up his recovery from serious back surgery. Green was ruled out for the entire summer and this month’s tour of Sri Lanka when he travelled to New Zealand for the surgery in October after a back injury emerged during a white-ball series in England. But he could now play a part in the WTC decider and next summer’s blockbuster Ashes series, at least as a bat. Australia also heads to the West Indies for a three-match series against the West Indies and are slated to face South Africa in white-ball matches on home soil in August. Australia sealed their place in the Test decider against South Africa by winning matches against India in Melbourne and Sydney in recent weeks. “Very hopeful he will be available as a batsman for the World Test Championship final,” Bailey said as he unveiled the 16-man squad to tour Sri Lanka. Also quizzed on the future of axed all-rounder Mitch Marsh, Bailey wouldn’t put a line through the West Aussie for the home Ashes, even though he expects Green to play. Tasmanian Beau Webster, who made his debut in Sydney and will almost certainly play in Sri Lanka, is also in that mix. “I don’t necessarily see it as the end of the road for him, I think Mitch at his best and with a longer-term view of potentially what the Ashes may look like and what England may throw at us there, I think he has got a skillset that suits there,” Bailey said. “Not taking away from the fact that at some stage clearly we are going to have the return of Cameron Green as well into the team, but unlike some, (I’m) probably not as glass-half-empty about where that leaves Mitch.” Green took to Instagram on Wednesday to post a video of himself returning to training at the WACA Ground. In the video, Green flexes his arms as he celebrates running across the outfield. Green had surgery under the care of New Zealand-based surgeons Grahame Inglis and Rowan Schouten, following in the footsteps of state teammate Jason Behrendorff, James Pattinson, Ben Dwarshuis, and New Zealand quicks Shane Bond and Matt Henry. The operation involved having screws and a titanium cable fused into his lower back in the hope of stabilising the stress fracture and preventing future occurrences, improving Green’s longevity as a bowler.