Green's hunger remains despite 'long, challenging year'

Cameron Green has conceivably played his final game for Australia this year, but the prodigious allrounder is adamant his up-and-down 2023 has made him a better player and that his appetite for cricket has not diminished.

Green is resigned to the probability he will lose his World Cup spot when Glenn Maxwell and Mitch Marsh make likely returns against Afghanistan despite putting on his highest ODI score in a year (47 off 52 balls) in Australia's win over England on Saturday.

"I know I've some pretty good players in front of me," the 24-year-old told reporters. "Absolutely no issues if I'm in and out the team. I totally agree with the selections that have been happening."

Rested from the five-match T20 series in India later this month, Green’s immediate future in the Test side is also clouded after Marsh finished the Ashes series as Australia's first-choice allrounder.

The fact he is no longer necessarily one of the first picked in both the Test and ODI teams could finally give Green the opportunity to have a breather over the coming months.

He has hardly spent more than a few nights at a time in his own bed since flying out for the Test tour of India at the start of this year, during which time he has played in an IPL campaign, the World Test Championship final, the Ashes, two bilateral ODI series and now the World Cup.

Green is nonetheless eager to push his case for the Test summer opener against Pakistan in his hometown Perth next month.

He confirmed he is set to play in Western Australia's Marsh Sheffield Shield match against Queensland at the Gabba later this month and then the Prime Minister's XI match in Canberra the following week.

Depending on how deep Australia go in the World Cup, it will leave him with as little as a week off.

"No chat about that (his Test spot) yet, full focus on the World Cup at the moment," Green told reporters. "I'm planning on playing the Shield game up in Brisbane and then we’ve got a PM’s XI game … so not too much rest to be fair. Just keep grinding and keep playing cricket."

Green has spent more than six months of this year in India alone. Others who have been in his shoes have expressed concern.

"It seems like a glamorous life; you’re away on tour, playing cricket, staying in nice hotels and travelling around the world," Australia legend Mike Hussey told Fox Cricket.

"It is great, don’t get me wrong, it’s fantastic, but after a while, after doing it day-in, day-out, week-in, week-out, month-to-month, it does wear you down. It tires you out mentally and physically after a while.

"I’ve certainly been in that position where sometimes you just need that circuit breaker, even if it’s just a few weeks away and then back home to sort of recharge the batteries."

While not denying the gruelling nature of the schedule, Green insists he has not been worn down by it and stressed his desire to play international cricket still burns strong.

"I think it's very tough. You want to play as much as you can for Australia and unfortunately, the schedule this year is pretty jam-packed," he said.

"But absolutely loving playing for my country – and I think there's a bit of a gap maybe next year (in July, August). It's been a long 18 months … Over six months away but close (to going home).

"Maybe you get a bit complacent when you're in the team all the time. You’ve got to keep reminding yourself you’re playing for Australia, and you’ve got to perform all the time.

"Whenever you miss out, you always want to improve and that's what we love doing. So hopefully there's a few improvements on the way."

Even if Green does ride the bench for the rest of the World Cup and Marsh then keeps him out of the Test side too, none would predict him to be on the outer for long.

After the five home Tests against Pakistan and West Indies, Australia tour New Zealand for two more Tests after white-ball games against the Windies (home) and the Black Caps (away).

Green will then return to the Indian Premier League, where he remains one of the Mumbai Indians’ prized recruits after they forked out more than A$3m for him last year, before his likely involvement in the T20 World Cup in the USA and Caribbean.

"One of the greatest things that happened to me was being part of the IPL and the confidence I gained from that was pretty huge," he said.

"I definitely felt it going into the Ashes series, how I felt around the group and about my cricket as well.

"It's been a great year so far – it's been long, challenging – but when I look at where I was at the start of the year to now, I've definitely grown as a cricketer and as a person."

Australia's 2023 ODI World Cup fixtures

October 8: Lost to India by six wickets

October 12: Lost to South Africa by 134 runs

October 16: Beat Sri Lanka by five wickets

October 20: Beat Pakistan by 62 runs

October 25: Beat Netherlands by 309 runs

October 28: Beat New Zealand by five runs

November 4: Beat England by 33 runs

November 7: v Afghanistan, Mumbai (D/N), 7.30pm AEDT

November 11: v Bangladesh, Pune, 4pm AEDT

Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Sean Abbott, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa

2023 World Cup standings

Team	Matches played M	Wins W	Losses L	Ties T	No results N/R	Net Run Rate NRR	Deductions Ded.	Total points PTS
1 India Men IND	9	9	0	0	0	2.57	0	18
2 South Africa Men SA	9	7	2	0	0	1.261	0	14
3 Australia Men AUS	9	7	2	0	0	0.841	0	14
4 New Zealand Men NZ	9	5	4	0	0	0.743	0	10
5 Pakistan Men PAK	9	4	5	0	0	-0.199	0	8
6 Afghanistan Men AFG	9	4	5	0	0	-0.336	0	8
7 England Men ENG	9	3	6	0	0	-0.572	0	6
8 Bangladesh Men BAN	9	2	7	0	0	-1.087	0	4
9 Sri Lanka Men SL	9	2	7	0	0	-1.419	0	4
10 Netherlands Men NED	9	2	7	0	0	-1.825	0	4

Legend

M: Matches played

W: Wins

L: Losses

T: Ties

N/R: No results

NRR: Net Run Rate

Ded.: Deductions

PTS: Total points