Former Test bowler Damien Fleming has urged the Australian selectors to continue to invest in young all-rounder Cameron Green.
The West Australian has evolved into a strike weapon with the ball this summer, his heightened venom and swing having led Pat Cummins and Steve Smith to trust him at critical junctures.
While he has taken seven wickets at 11 over the first three Tests, his best form with the bat has eluded him, with just 52 runs at 17.33 next to his name over that span.
“We’re getting games into him,” Fleming told SEN Breakfast ahead of the fourth Ashes Test.
“It’s great to see his bowling has already gone to the next level.
“He’s bowling fuller, and I think Pat Cummins has used him a bit better in getting him a newer ball to bowl with. He debuted as a fast bowler for Western Australia, so he’s got that mentality.”
Green has taken the long handle to Sheffield Shield bowlers, having already accumulated 2,532 runs and eight centuries at first-class level.
He made a series of starts against India last summer, and clobbered 84 at the SCG nearly 12 months ago, but hasn’t passed 50 in his six digs since.
In three of his seven Tests, Green hasn’t been called upon to bat in a second innings, either on account of a small chase or the lack of a second Australian innings altogether.
“Really, he hasn’t been given a lot of opportunities with the bat,” Fleming went on.
“He’s going fine, in a bowler-friendly series too. The ball has generally moved, we haven’t seen a lot of hundreds.
“I’m pretty happy with how Green is progressing.”
The 22-year-old’s position is assured even if selectors choose to shuffle the bowlers, Fleming believes, with the Australian team to tour Pakistan, Sri Lanka and India this year.
Australia last picked two specialist spinners in the Test team when left-arm orthodox tweaker Steve O’Keefe partnered Nathan Lyon against Bangladesh in Chattogram, back in 2017.
If leg-spinner Mitch Swepson is to join Lyon in the team, the selectors could use Green as the third fast bowler, given his fruitful summer with the red ball.
“He’ll be tested in the subcontinent, pitches are a bit flatter… but at 22 he just plays, he’s the future,” Fleming declared.
While Green has the selectors’ trust, Fleming says Mitch Marsh can still play a part for the Test team, and further reinforce the Aussies’ bowling stocks.
Marsh has followed up his unbeaten 77 in the T20 World Cup final with a century, an 86 and an unbeaten 42 for the Perth Scorchers.
The 30-year-old also made 60 not out in a tour match against the England Lions at the beginning of December.
A flourish for Western Australia towards the end of the Sheffield Shield season could book Marsh a Test ticket.
“If Mitchell Marsh gets enough runs I can still see (him and Green) potentially playing in the same team,” Fleming added.
“Particularly if we’re going to play two spinners to get Mitch Swepson into the team.”