Green’s radical NZ back surgery

James Pattinson and Jason Behrendorff took same route

Cameron Green looks set to fly to New Zealand to undergo radical surgery on the stress fracture in his lower back.

A decision will be made today by medical staff in conjunction with Green and his management.

If he has the surgery he will almost certainly be out of the entire summer, but he could still opt for rehabilitation without surgery which promises a quicker return, but carries more long term risk of the injury reoccurring.

Green has indicated that he is leaning toward having the operation after consulting with family and medical staff.

The news is a blow to the Australian side which was relying on overs from Green to ease the workload on Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood in a summer where they will play five Tests against India in seven weeks.

James Pattinson, whose career was blighted by stress fractures to his back,  opted for the NZ surgery in 2017 and described the surgery in an interview at the time.

"The reason we went over there was because they use a good technique where they don't actually touch the fracture with any pins or anything like that," Pattinson told SEN's The Run Home.

"They put the pins there as an anchor and anchor a wire around that area to basically clamp it shut so there's no movement in there and stops the stress going in that area.

"The surgery wasn't as big and bad as it was made out to be."

Pattinson came back to cricket and played in the 2019 Ashes.

Jason Behrendorff took the same path in 2019, missing that summer while he recovered from the surgery.

“Red-ball cricket is) probably the furthest thing from my mind at the moment," Behrendorff told cricket.com.au. "I hope it's not done, though, especially if I go down the path of surgery.

"We've seen how Patto has come back and played in the recent Ashes series, so maybe it'll give me a chance to do that.

"I've spoken to Patto and I've also spoken to (Sydney Sixers left-armer) Ben Dwarshuis, who's had a similar surgery done, and also (former NZ quick) Shane Bond.

"They've all been very complimentary with what they've had done and the way it's helped them continue to play cricket.

"Unfortunately I've had the same (injury) over the last few years and if that (surgery) is going to be an opportunity to have more of a permanent fix, I'm definitely going to look into it."

"When I hurt it over in England, that thought certainly crossed my mind.

"Do I actually want to do this? Do I want to keep going? Is it worth it, all the pain you go through (with) your body or through rehab?

"And the thing I kept coming back to was: I'm not done yet.

"I know in myself that I'll do whatever it takes to get back. I'm not exactly sure what that is at this stage. But once I do, I'll put all my eggs in that basket and make sure I'm doing everything I can to get right."