Mystery donor secures Green's county deal to push WTC case

Cameron Green will join West Australian teammate Cameron Bancroft at Gloucestershire in a bid to push his case for a recall for the World Test Championship final.

The allrounder, who is also eyeing a return after back surgery for WA by the end of the Sheffield Shield season, has signed a five-match deal with the division two county for April and May prior to Australia's clash with South Africa at Lord's in June.

Green's first match for the Bristol-based club will be an away trip to Canterbury to face Kent beginning on April 18, with his stint culminating in another away fixture against Northamptonshire from May 23.

Gloucestershire said the deal to land the 25-year-old would not have been possible without a "significant donation" from one of the club's members.

"We are incredibly grateful for his generosity, which has enabled us to do this deal without going over the playing budget," said chair Peter Matthews.

"We are delighted to welcome Cameron to Gloucestershire and will do everything we can to support him having an enjoyable and productive stay in Bristol."

While this English summer will mark Green's first foray into county cricket, he was a member of Australia's WTC triumph at The Oval in 2023 and featured in three of the five Ashes Tests to help retain the urn 2-2.

Green's last competitive matches prior to being ruled out of the home summer with a back injury that required major spinal surgery also came in England during Australia's white-ball tour of the UK last September.

He will be captained at Gloucester this year by Bancroft, who was announced as the club's red-ball leader for the 2025 season earlier in the week.

"Cameron Green’s ability is unquestionable. He usually operates in a key position for the best Test team in the world at the moment and having that pedigree in our camp is amazing for the players alongside him," Glos head coach Mark Alleyne said.

"We have serious ambitions in all formats in 2025 and Cameron's signing will reinforce this sentiment."

Green resumed batting in the nets in Perth in January and has been running since early in the new year after undergoing surgery in October in Christchurch. He is hoping to play as a specialist batter before the end of the domestic season.

WA are eyeing a fourth straight Sheffield Shield final appearance after their win over Queensland this week saw them jump from last to 0.24 points behind second-placed NSW.

The three-time reigning champions face NSW in their next match from March 6-9 at the WACA Ground before finishing the regular season at home against Victoria.

With Green's looming comeback and Travis Head's return to No.5 after opening in Sri Lanka, Australia is facing a selection squeeze in the middle-order for the WTC final following Beau Webster and Josh Inglis' impressive start to their Test careers.

Inglis is currently part of Australia's Champions Trophy campaign in Pakistan while Webster will finish the Australian summer with Tasmania before joining division one side Warwickshire for three-month county stint in May.

Elsewhere, NSW allrounder Jack Edwards has signed with Hampshire for the first two months on the county season while Blues veteran Moises Henriques will join Nottinghamshire for the T20 Blast alongside Daniel Sams.

Australians in County Cricket for 2025

Derbyshire: Caleb Jewell

Gloucestershire: Cameron Bancroft, Cameron Green (April-May)

Hampshire: Jack Edwards (April-May)

Kent: Wes Agar, Tom Rogers (T20 Blast only)

Lancashire: Chris Green, Marcus Harris

Leicestershire: Peter Handscomb

Northamptonshire: Ashton Agar (T20 Blast only)

Nottinghamshire: Moises Henriques (T20 Blast only), Fergus O'Neill (until April 28), Daniel Sams (T20 Blast only)

Somerset: Riley Meredith

Sussex: Daniel Hughes, Gurinder Sandhu (June-July)

Warwickshire: Beau Webster

Worcestershire: Ben Dwarshuis (T20 Blast only)

Yorkshire: Will Sutherland (T20 Blast + 2 County)