'Green has smart cricket brain and is calm under pressure. He is made for Test cricket'
Rookie all-rounder Cameron Green is made for Test cricket and will make his debut in the pink ball match against India, Australia captain Tim Paine announced on Wednesday.
The much-awaited Test series between the two cricket heavyweights will commence Thursday with the day/night match, starting Thursday.
The giant seam-bowling all-rounder made an impressive hundred in the first warm-up game against India A and was drafted into the Test team. While he got concussed in the second game due to a straight drive from Jasprit Bumrah, Paine indicated that the baggy green is waiting for him.
"He trained well. If all things go well, Cam Green will be making his Test debut tomorrow. Great news for him. Great news for us and great news for all Australian cricket fans," Paine said at the virtual media conference ahead of the series-opener.
Paine, who batted alongside Green in the warm-up game and has also seen him score a lot of runs in Sheffield Shield, is confident that he has a bright future ahead of him.
"He is really impressive for a guy of his age and understands his game pretty well. He has smart cricket brain and is calm under pressure. He is made for Test cricket," Paine complimented the 21-year-old West Australian's skills.
The skipper believes that if Green can chip in with a few overs consistently with his seam-up stuff, it will help in longevity of their pace troika of Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood.
"He (Green) will bowl but we don't expect him to bowl a huge amount of overs. We see him as nice change up, who takes about 12-14 overs in an innings from our key fast bowlers."
"Having him around will help having Starc, Cummins and Halewood around for a little longer. He is going to be a huge asset in that sense," the skipper observed.
Green has opened a few times in Shield cricket but Paine completely ruled out the option of having the youngster open even as there are slots at the top due to David Warner's absence and Joe Burns' poor form.
"No, we will be using Greeny (nickname) in that all-rounder's slot. We will use him in position that gives him best chance to succeed. We can't bring him in a Pink Ball Test match and ask 'mate can you open'."
