Australia have suffered a significant blow ahead of their marquee Border-Gavaskar Test series against India in November as a back injury could rule star all-rounder Cameron Green out of the entire home summer.
Australian media had reported on Tuesday that Green would play the India-Australia series as a complete batter, although it remained possible that he would begin bowling during the final phase of the series. But now it emerges that he can miss the series as well. Green had suffered the back injury during Australia’s limited-overs tour of England in September. He complained of a sore back after the third ODI of the five-match series and was ruled out of the remainder of the series.
As per a report in cricketetal.com, Green has “no chance” of being match-fit for the first Test against India that starts in Perth from 22 November, and that his injury has become worse than expected. “He has no chance of being ready for the first Test against India on November 22 in Perth and it is not sounding good for any time soon after that. He may not play this summer,” said the report.
There was hope till Tuesday that Green would feature in the Australia squad as he would be able to bat, if not bowl, during the home season. Peter Brukner, a former Australian team doctor, had spoken on similar lines regarding Green’s injury.
“The load comes mainly from bowling—batting and fielding don’t put a huge load on that part of the body, so it’s feasible that once the pain settles down you can bat and field without too many problems and feel fine,” Brukner told The Age. “It’s just that if you were to bowl 10 overs, you’d probably break down again. So it’s a case of slowly building up the load so the bone basically adjusts to the load and gets stronger. There’s a bit of an art to it,” added Brukner.
