Cliff Notes – Green nears return ahead of World Test Championship final selection race

Cameron Green expresses satisfaction with his recent back surgery, aiming for a long-term return to cricket and hopes to be selected for the World Test Championship final.
Nathan Lyon and Scott Boland are managing injuries as they prepare for the upcoming matches, with Lyon undergoing rehab for a hip injury and Boland focusing on strengthening his knee.

Green nears return ahead of World Test Championship final selection race

Alex Malcolm

Andrew McGlashan

Deputy editor, ESPNcricinfoDeputy Editor Andrew arrived at ESPNcricinfo via Manchester and Cape Town, after finding the assistant editor at a weak moment as he watched England’s batting collapse in the Newlands Test. Andrew began his cricket writing as a freelance covering Lancashire during 2004 when they were relegated in the County Championship. In fact, they were top of the table when he began reporting on them but things went dramatically downhill. He likes to let people know that he is a supporter of county cricket, a fact his colleagues will testify to and bemoan in equal quantities.Mar 31, 2025, 05:57 AM

Cameron Green is glad he had back surgery and hopes it is the last of his career as he prepares for his playing return in county cricket, adding that he would be happy to bat anywhere for Australia as he pushes to be selected for the World Test Championship final as a batter only.

Green held his first press conference since undergoing major back surgery last October, speaking in Perth as part of cricket Australia’s nation-wide fixture announcement for the 2025-26 summer.

Green, 25, is set to make his playing return for Gloucestershire when he heads to England next week. But he revealed that he would have been fit for the Sheffield Shield final had Western Australia qualified.

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“The surgery has been incredible,” Green said. “I think I was probably off [my] legs for about two weeks. And after that I’ve been doing gym work for the last four or five months, been running for the last two months, been batting for the last month. It’s been pretty seamless. So, yeah, pretty happy I got it done.

“It’s for the long-term goal of playing cricket for as long as I can. Bowling for as long as I can. I got it for that reason, solely. Obviously I could have healed [the stress fracture] over nine months, but I took the option to get the surgery, and hopefully, fingers crossed, that’s the last of it, which would be nice.”

Green has taken a lot of confidence from speaking to Jason Behrendorff and Ben Dwarshuis, who have both had no major back issues since undergoing the same surgery. Green confirmed he has yet to bowl and won’t be fit to bowl in a game until the start of the next Shield season in October.

He heads to Gloucestershire for a five-game stint in a bid to be selected for the WTC final against South Africa. He was Australia’s No. 4 when he last played in March 2024, scoring a match-winning 174 not out in his second last Test against New Zealand.

But Steven Smith’s prolific return to that position means Green will have to bat somewhere else if selected. His inability to bowl until later in the year creates a selection headache given Travis Head is set to return to No. 5 while Josh Inglis and Beau Webster performed superbly in the middle-order across Australia’s last three Tests. It could be that Green finds himself in the top three.

“I think we’ve got an ultra-successful top five, six, seven, so it’s never easy,” Green said. “But that’s where you want it to be in a Test team. You want someone to basically rise to the challenge, take that position for themselves and that’s what’s been done.

Nathan Lyon speaks to the media Getty Images

“They’ve had another ultra-successful summer, and I was so happy watching. But at the same time, you always want to get back into the team. So we’ll wait and see what happens.”

Meanwhile, Nathan Lyon has revealed the extent of the hip injury he managed throughout the season since the opening Test against India in Perth.

Lyon ripped tissue off the fascia in his left hip and as he continued to play through the pain he needed to have it twice drained of fluid.

The injury ruled him out of the closing stages of the Sheffield Shield – although Lyon said he would have played the final if New South Wales had made it – and since returning from Sri Lanka he has be going through rehab to ensure he is back to full fitness for the WTC final.

“I’ve been doing a fair amount of rehab, five days a week” he said. [It was] pretty painful when you land on it, but also when you run, it fills up with fluid and all that stuff. But all well and good now. So touch wood, it’s all good.”

The other bowler nursing a post-season injury is Scott Boland who missed the final round of the Sheffield Shield with knee soreness. He has been managing an issue in his left knee over the past year.

Boland played back-to-back Shield games for Victoria after returning from the tour of Sri Lanka where he did feature. But after taking 10 wickets against New South Wales in 36 overs, he bowled 43 against South Australia at the Junction Oval and pulled up sore

Scott Boland celebrates his match haul of 10 wickets Getty Images

“It got progressively sorer as the summer went on, I think just through bowling,” Boland said. “I bowled a fair bit in those last couple of games. But I think if we made the Shield final, I would have been fine to play. So we sort of took the conservative route there and then I’ve got the next month to really build up my strength in my whole body.”

Boland will carefully build up his bowling loads over the long lead-in the WTC final where it could be fighting with Josh Hazlewood for the final pace-bowling slot. He will have an outdoor net available to him at the Junction Oval despite some likely inclement April weather and will also head to Brisbane with the players who are not overseas at the IPL or the county championship for a couple of camps.

Boland’s preparation will look identical to 2023 when he was Australia’s best bowler in the final against India at the Oval.

“I think it’s just working out what’s working and what doesn’t,” Boland said. “I’ve only had this knee injury for eight to 10 months. I think we’re going about it the right way. I’ll have a little break now.

“But once I do get up and going, I’m hoping to just go really smoothly and if everything goes well, I’ll be right to go for that one Test in England and those three Tests the Caribbean. And then after that, have another break again, and then sort of built my strengths and bowling loads again before the huge summer cricket next year.”