Green's Half-Century Signals Turnaround at No. 3 After Smith's Return Boosts Australia

Cameron Green, Australia's latest number three in Test cricket, expressed satisfaction with his resilient performance during the second innings of the Grenada Test against the West Indies on Saturday. Green occupied the crease for 123 deliveries, crafting a valuable 52 runs – his first score of fifty or more from the one-drop position. He also forged a crucial 93-run partnership with Steve Smith, who celebrated his return to the team with a fluent 71.

Cameron Green showed resilience at the crease. © AFP

"You always need an innings here and there just to get you going, and hopefully today was one of those," Green commented after 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 entire 2024-25 home season but marked his return to competitive cricket with a productive stint in County cricket for Gloucestershire. During this time, he amassed three centuries in five County matches, including one in his very first innings back. He was subsequently selected as the designated number three batter for the WTC final, a move that saw Marnus Labuschagne promoted to open the innings alongside Usman Khawaja.

Since then, Labuschagne has lost his Test spot, and Smith was sidelined for the first Test against West Indies due to a hand injury. Green's initial performances at number three were less than impressive, with scores of 4, 0, 3, 15, and 26 preceding his determined 52 in challenging conditions, which helped maintain Australia's advantage in the second Test.

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

He further 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 prior to the WTC final means that Green is currently limited to playing solely as a batter, unable to contribute his full all-round capabilities.

"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, also providing 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."