Cameron Green did well to justify his inclusion in the Australia Test squad by hitting an unbeaten 125 as well as impressing with the ball in the warm-up game against India A at Sydney’s Drummoyne Oval.
Green acknowledged facing Indian bowlers in the match has been a step up for him. “When you play (Sheffield) Shield cricket, you face guys countless times and see countless bits of footage of them. So you get a better idea of what you’re facing.
“Australian domestic cricket holds you in good stead as it’s a really tough competition with world class players. But the match against India was a step up,” Green said during a virtual news conference on Wednesday.
Australia have every reason to be upbeat over the 21-year-old all-rounder as his runs came against the likes of Umesh Yadav and Ravichandran Ashwin, who are both expected to play an important part in the upcoming four-Test series, which begins on December 17 and will be broadcast live on Sony Six and Sony Ten 3 channels.
Though primed for a Test debut, Green prefers to stay grounded as he’s yet to face Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami. That too, in a pink-ball game.
For someone who kept “dodging Day-Night matches in domestic cricket for whatever reason” and had never faced the pink ball until Wednesday’s training session, Green admitted that should Bumrah play in the next warm-up game beginning on Friday at the SCG, he would take some time to get used to the pacer’s “unique” action. This pink-ball game could double as a dress rehearsal for the much-awaited first Test in Adelaide.
“I’ll be facing them (Bumrah and Shami) soon in the next pink-ball practice match. It will be another challenge for myself and some other guys who have never faced them before.
“Bumrah is a world class bowler with a unique action, so that’ll definitely take some time to get used to.
“You’ve just got to take your game to another level and work really hard to get through him, and just hope it gets a bit easier the more you face him. That’s the attitude I and the rest of the team will be going in with in this game,” Green emphasised.
At the same time, dealing with Umesh too wasn’t the easiest thing for Green. “You could obviously speak of the skills of Umesh.
“He was bowling down-breeze on a wicket that had a bit in it for them. Yeah, it was incredibly tough, but I had Painey (Tim Paine) and other guys down at the other end who were so helpful just to get through them (Indian bowlers) really. But yeah, Umesh was a tough bowler to face,” the youngster, who also bowls fast-medium, said.
Talking about how he tackled Indian spinners in the previous game, Green said: “I haven’t had too much time to think about it.
“Luckily, that pitch didn’t help them too much. It spun a little bit for them but not as much as it does in India. The plan I had was just to play straight and luckily, it came off.”
