Cameron Green fell agonisingly short of a double century but showed why he's firmly in the national selection frame - with or without the ball - during Western Australia's drawn Sheffield Shield match against NSW.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Green's (197) epic innings was brought to an end when trapped in front by Sean Abbott, as WA were all out for 534 shortly before lunch on the final day.
With NSW 2-107 at tea after compiling 6(dec)-443 in their first innings, the sides agreed no result could be achieved and called off the match with a session remaining.
Daniel Hughes (2) and Kurtis Patterson (48) were the men out for the Blues, Cameron Gannon and Ashton Agar taking a wicket apiece. Nick Larkin (33) and first innings centurion Moises Henriques (15) were the not out batsmen.
While the match at Adelaide's Gladys Elphick Park fizzled out, interest in Green remains high.
Earmarked as a future Australian star, allrounder Green didn't bowl for much of 2019/20 and has yet to pick up the ball in a match this season because of stress fractures in his back.
The 21-year-old - who averages 21.53 with the ball - says he's only a match or two away.
"We'll have a couple of training sessions and I'll bowl a couple of times and we'll see how that's progressing and see if I can bowl in a game," he said.
While Green said any bowling workload would be limited to perhaps five-to-ten over days, he wouldn't be tempering his speed.
"I won't be bowling at half pace if I'm bowling," he said.
Regardless, Green is mounting a solid case for national consideration as a standalone batsman.
Alongside his 438-ball innings against NSW, Green scored 699 runs at 63.54 during the last Sheffield Shield season.
Initially frustrated at getting out, believing he may have edged the ball, Green said he took a few hours to mull over what he said was his highest score in any form of cricket.
"It's probably the innings I'm most proud of, especially how hard they came all day really," he said.
Green joins a host of players who could fill a lower-middle order spot for Australia including the likes of Henriques, Michael Neser, Ashton Agar and Travis Head.
Abbott was the standout bowler for NSW with 6-89 while Test spinner Nathan Lyon (2-141) got a long, if not always fruitful, 47-over workout in his first match in seven months.
Australian Associated Press
