Green considers back surgery, Test summer in doubt

Cameron Green's involvement in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series remains under a cloud as the allrounder weighs up whether to go in for radical back surgery that has saved the careers of several Australian fast bowlers.

Green is expected to decide within the coming days whether to go in for a similar medical procedure on his spine to the one that speedsters James Pattinson, Jason Behrendorff and Ben Dwarshuis have all previously undergone.

The operation, performed by pioneering Christchurch surgeons Grahame Inglis and Rowan Schouten and which involves screws and titanium wire to bind vertebrae together, would rule Green out for months.

It would leave Australia without their star allrounder for the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy series against India and likely the ensuing tour of Sri Lanka as well.

The alternative would be to rehabilitate the injury, which was diagnosed as a stress fracture in his lower back during Australia's recent limited-overs tour of the United Kingdom. Scans taken only months earlier before the trip had been clear.

Green met with Australian team officials late yesterday to discuss his options and was presented with a choice of surgery or rehab after several days of consultations and analysis, with the 25-year-old now understood to now be weighing up the difficult decision.

It is complicated further given his Test selection is not entirely dependent on his bowling. Green could conceivably return to face India as a batter only at some stage during the five-Test series against India if he opted not to go in for surgery.

The right-hander was player of the match in the first Test against New Zealand in March after scoring a career-high 174no, underlining his credentials as a pure batter.

The knock-on effects of Green's decision will be significant.

His absence from the No.4 spot could allow Steve Smith to move back to that position given selectors were already considering whether to keep him in the opening spot he took up last summer.

The likes of Marcus Harris, Cameron Bancroft, Matthew Renshaw, Nic Maddinson or even teenage breakout Sheffield Shield star Sam Konstas could be considered if a new opener is required.

A further consideration is whether Mitch Marsh, the incumbent No.6, can shoulder Green's load with the ball. The Western Australian has not taken the ball in the ongoing match against Queensland and hardly bowled himself while captaining Australia's white-ball teams over the winter.

For Green, he now has other long-term factors to consider.

The Perth product has had a reasonably injury-free run since graduating to international cricket in 2020, marking a success story for Cricket Australia's medical management amid his rise to becoming an all-format player.

As a teenager, Green had suffered multiple back stress fractures but a bigger consideration for him since then has been the chronic kidney condition he has that forces him to monitor his diet closely and can lead to him suffering cramps.

In August, before his latest injury, he told cricket.com.au that a career as a specialist batter was something he would only look at well into the future.

"I've thought about it as an 'in 10 years' time' sort of thing," Green said when asked if he would consider giving away – or at least consider deprioritising – a bowling career that has so far netted him 35 Test wickets at 35.31.

"Down the track it's definitely an option but at the moment I'm very happy to be a genuine allrounder."

NRMA Insurance Men's Test Series v India

First Test: November 22-26: Perth Stadium, Perth

Second Test: December 6-10: Adelaide Oval, Adelaide (D/N)

Third Test: December 14-18: The Gabba, Brisbane

Fourth Test: December 26-30: MCG, Melbourne

Fifth Test: January 3-7: SCG, Sydney