Green on the improve after concussion blow
Young allrounder showing promising signs after scary incident on the opening day of Australia A's three-day match
15 December 2020, 06:45 PM
The Australia camp remains hopeful that exciting young allrounder Cameron Green can make his way to Adelaide to be part of the Test squad ahead of next Thursday's Vodafone series opener against India.
Green was struck on the head with the ball while bowling in Australia A's tour match against India at the SCG on Friday, when tailender Jasprit Bumrah lashed a shot straight back down the wicket.
The ball burst through Green's hands and hit him on the right side of the head.
Mohammed Siraj, at the non-striker's end, dropped his bat and immediately rushed to check on the injured bowler.
The 21-year-old forced to sit on the pitch before being attended by members of the Australia A Dettol Medical Team. After being examined for a minute or two, he left the field for further assessment in the dressing room.
Australia A doctor Pip Inge noted on Saturday that Green "has shown clinical improvement overnight and is symptomatically better than yesterday".
"He will remain with the Australia A squad where we will continue to monitor him," Dr Inge said.
It was the second head blow suffered by an Australia A player in as many games, with Green's fellow Test squad member Will Pucovski diagnosed with mild concussion after being struck while batting in the tour game at Drummoyne Oval earlier this week.
Remarkably, Australia A quick Harry Conway was also subbed out of the three-day contest on Saturday after he was diagnosed with a concussion following a blow to the helmet while batting late on the opening day's play.
"It's a freakish accident," Australia A coach Matthew Mott said of Green's blow after play on Friday night. "Disappointing for him, he was obviously bowling well and setting himself up for a big innings as well.
"I think he's been cleared of fractures which is great … we'll monitor him over the next couple of days and hopefully get him over to Adelaide eventually.
"He was OK (in the changeroom). Pip (Inge), our doctor, was happy enough with him. (The ball) did take a slight deflection (off his hands) which is a good thing but it's still really disappointing and poor timing for him; he was flying after his hundred at Drummoyne the other day and we were hoping for some more big things this week."
Green was building a near-irresistible case for a Baggy Green with a century last week against the touring Indians, and a couple of wickets against the same opposition that have highlighted his quality as a fast bowler.
From 21 first-class matches, the allrounder is averaging 55.04 with the bat and 21.72 with the ball, hitting a career-best 197 against the NSW Blues in this summer's Marsh Sheffield Shield competition.
The optimistic outlook for Green follows news that Will Pucovski has been ruled out of the first Vodafone Test against India with concussion following his blow while batting in the first tour match.
Pucovski joins David Warner on the sidelines, with Australia adding Victorian opener Marcus Harris to their Test squad.
Vodafone Test Series v India 2020-21
Australia Test squad: Tim Paine (c), Sean Abbott, Joe Burns, Pat Cummins, Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, James Pattinson, Will Pucovski, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, Matthew Wade, David Warner
India Test squad: Virat Kohli (c) (first Test only), Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), Rohit Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, Prithvi Shaw, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Hanuma Vihari, Shubman Gill, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Rishabh Pant (wk), Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Navdeep Saini, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Siraj
First Test: December 17-21, Adelaide Oval, 3pm AEDT (day-night)
Second Test: December 26-30, MCG, 10.30am AEDT
Third Test: January 7-11, SCG, 10.30am AEDT
Fourth Test: January 15-19, Gabba, 11am AEDT
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