NEWS
Follow UsEver since his debut in 2020, against India, Cameron Green has gone from strength to strength. Not only has the all-rounder cemented his place in the playing XI but has also become an indispensable part of the Kangaroos’ unit. Whilst there was doubt over whether he could handle spin, his show in Pakistan and Sri Lanka has completely erased that debate.
However, the all-rounder suffered a broken finger, which has ruled him out of the third Test against South Africa in Sydney. Australia’s head coach, Andrew McDonald, however, is completely confident that the all-rounder will be fit in time to fly to India later this year.
“Yeah, I am confident he will be fit with the time frames I’ve been given. The challenge will be making sure we can be creative in the way he trains to make sure his body is in order,” McDonald told Sydney Morning Herald on Green’s fitness.
“But we feel as though with the medical team that have done an outstanding job in the last game, we feel as though we’re confident he’ll be ready for that first Test match.″
Touring to India has been one of the biggest challenges in world cricket for the Australian team. Whilst they have come close on several occasions, they haven’t won a Test series in India since 2004/05 season. Ever since, they have come pretty close once - in the 2016/17 series - where they took a 1-0 lead in the series before losing the series 1-2.
While several teams have preferred tour games ahead of such a schedule, Australia’s coach has a different perspective on preparation. McDonald insisted that Australia can prepare for the conditions in India without a tour game. Not just that, the former all-rounder also reckoned that preparing such conditions back home could help in attaining the skillset for the rage turners.
“No tour game is something we’ve done in the last few series, before embarking on overseas tours. We feel as though we don’t need that match practice as such. We’re going to go to India about a week out from the first game. We didn’t want to press for too much longer, in terms of the preparation,” McDonald said.
“But we would prefer a centre wicket in India to go through some scenario training, and we feel as though with this experienced group also that have been there before, that they won’t need as long to adapt to the conditions.
McDonald also shed light on Australia’s preparation before they reached Pakistan, stating how they worked with the local groundsmen in preparing ‘dusty wickets’ that gave them a practical test.
“We can be creative in our own conditions. We’ve done it before with the Pakistan build-up in Melbourne. Dusting up wickets. Fit for purpose. Working with the local groundsmen who really help us in and around the country. We feel as though we can get as close to that as possible without necessarily having a practice game.”
