Green sets more records in march towards superstardom

Cameron Green continued his inexorable march towards superstardom against Queensland on Sunday, becoming the youngest Western Australian to reach 250 in the Marsh Sheffield Shield as bat again dominated ball on day two at the Gabba.

Green's 251 underpinned the WA innings of 5d-458, before the Bulls began their own occupation of the crease in sessions two and three, going to stumps at 1-183.

Marnus Labuschagne (81) and Bryce Street (61) were the not out batsmen as wickets cost more than 100 runs apiece on a surface showing few signs of wear and tear.

"It's a very nice wicket," Green said after play. "I think there's definitely enough in there for bowlers and batsmen.

"I think it's so similar to the WACA, just with the pace and bounce. It's pretty true out in the middle – a good batting wicket."

Green added 69 to his overnight tally to etch his name into the record books before lunch: he now owns the sixth-highest Shield score at the Gabba, the seventh-highest Shield score by a Western Australian, and the seventh-highest by a 21-year-old (or younger) in the competition's 129-year history.

Highest Sheffield Shield scores by 21-year-olds (or younger)

452no | Don Bradman, 21 (1930)

340no | Don Bradman, 20 (1929)

325 | Jack Badcock, 21 (1936)

263 | Steven Smith, 21 (1983)

261 | Ian Redpath, 21 (1963)

253 | Doug Walters, 19 (1965)

*251 | Cameron Green, 21 (2021)

His maiden double-hundred also took him to the top of the Shield run-scoring pile for 2020-21, overtaking Travis Head, the man he replaced in the Test side.

Green now has 782 runs to his name this campaign and with up to five innings (or seven, if WA make the final) still to bat, he appears well placed to become just the ninth player from his state to manage a 1000-run season.

In the lengthy third session, the allrounder even rolled the arm over for four overs, finishing with 0-11 as he continued to adapt to his revamped action.

Throughout that final period, Labuschagne and Street demonstrated their own powers of concentration, the former passing 500 runs for the campaign in a typically assured performance and the latter producing perhaps his best hand of the summer to add to his growing reputation as a top-order rock.

All of it would have made for pleasant if not surprising viewing for national selector Trevor Hohns, who watched the batting exhibition from the stands, with Hilton Cartwright (96) the other player to catch the eye in posting his highest first-class score in almost three years.

Cartwright shared a 192-run stand for the fourth wicket with Green, the robust right-hander scoring at a productive rate and showcasing his power game with a trio of sixes before falling four runs short of a century when he skied left-arm spinner Matthew Kuhnemann (2-85) to Mark Steketee at long-on.

Green had fallen in similar fashion four overs earlier to the same bowler, picking out Joe Burns at long-off after Queensland captain Usman Khawaja had dispatched five men to the deep.

With just six wickets having fallen in six sessions (Burns, 34, was the lone Bulls wicket to fall), the draw seems the most likely outcome at this point; a result that would sit more comfortably for ladder-leaders Queensland than WA, who have drawn four of their five matches this season, winning the other.