Cameron Green says he will be ready to bowl again during the Sheffield Shield. The news comes as a boost for Australia before the Ashes at home against England.
Green has only batted since coming back from back surgery. But he has been slowly increasing his bowling in training.
Australia face India in a white-ball series in October and November. Green may choose to play red-ball cricket for Western Australia instead, so he can bowl more overs before the Ashes.
“In the past, it’s worked really well when I’ve focused on Shield cricket,” Green told reporters in Mackay on Thursday.
“That potentially might be the way to go, especially with working my way back to bowling, to potentially get a few more overs over a few more days.”
Australia will be careful not to over-bowl him. Green missed the home test series against India after surgery on a fracture in his spine. If he is fit, he will be a key player in Australia’s bid to keep the urn.
Green has 18 wickets in eight tests against England. His average against them is 24.44, much lower than his overall career average of 35.31.
He has also become valuable with the bat. On Australia’s tour of the West Indies he made 184 runs on tough pitches. Those runs helped Pat Cummins’s side secure a 3-0 sweep.
Green said he was not reading too much into that form.
“I don’t think we’ll be playing on many wickets quite like that (this summer), so I don’t think there’s too many takeaways,” he said.
“It was such a tough wicket, especially for the batters — to …. get out of the series unscathed was a good effort.”
The Ashes begin in Perth on November 21.