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Cameron Green strengthened his case for an instant recall in Australia's playing XI for the high-stakes World Test Championship final against a resilient South Africa at the Lord's next month after slamming his second century in five matches for Gloucestershire.
The towering young all-rounder continued to enchant the fans with his rich vein of form and sizzling display with the bat in the County Championship since his return after a back surgery. He announced his comeback with a hundred against Kent in mid-April, but had to retire hurt after showing signs of cramping while celebrating his milestone moment. The 25-year-old gingerly followed his high with a quartet of low scores. However, Green flexed his run-scoring prowess during the return fixture against Kent. He tormented the opposition with his swashbuckling display and pulled the ball away towards the boundary rope to reach the three-digit figures. Green topped up the special moment with a statuesque celebration, standing tall and raising his bat and helmet high in the air to acknowledge his teammates and the crowd, who chanted his name, sending a message to Australian selectors about his form before the WTC final. "It was amazing. I definitely wanted a good score in front of the fans. They've come out in force in the two games I've been here, and I'd never really experienced chanting of my name before, so that was awesome to experience. A really cool moment," Green was quoted as saying by The Sydney Morning Herald. "I feel sorry, in a way, for doing it against the same opposition. But you take them when they come. We played a couple of shots, the crowd got up, and you felt like you were really on top of them," he added. Green has followed the common passage of youngsters and often struggled to infuse consistency in his approach, considering the number of positions he has played while switching to different formats. In the T20Is and ODIs, Green has almost come out to bat everywhere for Australia from number one to eight. Meanwhile, his colleague Marnus Labuschagne's plans to find the purple patch were immediately scuppered by South Australia quick Harry Conway. The 30-year-old lasted just seven deliveries and eight minutes before Northamptonshire's Conway lured out a thick outside edge straight to Justin Broad, forcing the experienced batter to return for a duck. (ANI)
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