The Greening of New Zealand

Peter Lalor on Cameron Green finding his feet at No. 4

Peter Lalor

Cameron Green’s brilliant innings at The Basin goes some way to justify Australia’s great gamble.

The idea of Steve Smith opening so he could bat at No.4 horrified most when it was suggested, but if it comes off the Australian side will be in a much better place than it was. 

Smith volunteering to move to the slot vacated by David Warner wasn’t completely altruistic, but a lot of it was about getting Green back into the side and batting in a position that suited his skills.

"It didn't sit right having him come in and bat up top," Smith said. "I've played for a long time and I'm an experienced player and think it's something that I should have done,” Smith said at the time. “He's suited to No.4. Plays there in Shield cricket, does well there."

Smith admitted too that he liked the idea of a challenge. 

Green lost his spot to Mitch Marsh during the Ashes and was wilting in the waiting room in the back half of the Ashes and the front half of the summer.

Missing out a few matches never did anyone any harm, but this situation was dragging on.

Green was one of those cricketers who are a head and shoulders above most mortals playing Sheffield Shield cricket, one of those youngsters Greg Chappell argues need to be thrown into the deep end before they grow stale in first class cricket.

Mixing cordial for the Test XI for an extended period was helping no one.

His batting average (33) to that point had not convinced everybody that he was as special as some of us suggested and his single century had been made on a road at Ahmedabad, but wiser heads knew how much up side there is to the 24-year-old.

He figured that his only way back into the side was as opener, then Smith put his hand up and it was like a Christmas gift for the kid.

"I was so excited when I heard the news," Green said at the time.

"I thought I was about a 95 per cent chance of opening, so that's where my head went for a couple of weeks and I'm grateful to be at four.

"What I like is I've got a bit of time.

"I've always felt a touch rushed at six, especially after 'Heady' who makes it look a bit too easy at number five.

"So I've always felt like I've had to push the game along, whereas I feel like number four is my natural game where I can take my time and get settled in."

Green is a slow starter, it was obvious before now and demonstrated again in the first Test when he came in with the score 3-88.

To be honest, he looked wooden in the early part of his innings, but when Mitch Marsh came to the crease he had eased into his workload and started to bat with the freedom of his partner.

His alignment looks better than it did in the summer, but he still gets himself into some difficulty camping on the front foot as he eases into the rhythm of the game.

He moved through the gears, however, and when it did come time to bat with the tail he was comfortable at the crease and ready to cash in.

The sight of Josh Hazlewood coming out saw him slog his way into the 90s and past the three figure mark, but come the next morning he farmed the strike perfectly as the pair put on a 100+run partnership that has given Australia the upper hand in the match.

His innings, on a difficult wicket,  will have the added bonus of confirming to himself that he is good enough to fill Smith’s shoes at No. 4 and should see him more assured early in future knocks.

Credit too to the logistics operations among the coaching staff that saw him sent back to WA for a shield match - where he scored a century - instead of jobbing around in the T20 internationals.

“I think it’s really important,” Green said after day one. “I probably struggled to have the red ball practice leading into Tests.

“I think it’s been always one or two net sessions then thrown in the deep end a little bit, but that’s what international cricket is like at the moment. Unfortunately, it’s been a pretty busy 18 months and there’s not much practice in between changing formats.

“It's just a bit of a work in progress for myself. I'm trying to obviously learn off guys that do it quite regularly like Steve and Mitch Marsh, Dave Warner. I think they stay true to their technique. And it's something that I need to work on. I'm not trying to be changing so much in between formats.”

Now all Australia needs is Smith to cash in at the top and everyone can rest easy. He looked good in Brisbane and showed promise at the Basin, so let’s see how that goes.

As for Marnus, well, have we got a problem emerging here?

Watch this space.