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With Australia weighing balance and combinations throughout the ongoing Ashes campaign, former Aussie skipper Ricky Ponting believes the faith shown in Cameron Green has inevitably impacted others on the fringes, with Beau Webster caught in the squeeze.
"The unfortunate player in this whole Australian summer so far has been Beau Webster. He didn't do much wrong in the games that he played. Certainly, in Australia, in his debut game, he was very good," Ponting said as per the ICC website. "Then had to go to the West Indies, where the wickets were very, very challenging for all batters. And he got undone by a couple of almost unplayable deliveries over there. He got injured at the start of the Australian summer and missed a couple of Shield games, which probably didn't help because he didn't get the same sort of run-in and runs under his belt as someone like Labuschagne did," he added. Ponting suggested that Webster might replace Josh Inglis at number 7, potentially to get a bit more bowling back up as well. "Unfortunately, Beau didn't have that, and as I said, I actually feel a bit for him, and he might be the one that they're thinking about in that No.7 slot as well. They might think about moving Inglis out and bringing Webster in there just to get a bit more bowling back up as well," Ponting noted. Webster's been in good touch since he made his debut earlier this year in Australia's final Test against India in Sydney, taking part in seven Tests from that point on and getting himself 381 runs with four half-centuries as well down the order alongside eight wickets in the process. Even with those considerations, Ponting made it clear he expects patience to prevail when it comes to Green's future. "I think they will persist with him. I think they like the package too much. I think that they've almost come too far with Cameron Green now. Thirty-odd Test matches. I think they'll stick with him and try to find a way to get the best out of him... I think it's about him being exposed at the highest level and finding a way to make it work at the Test level that's going to make him a better player," Ponting concluded. Green has taken part in 35 Tests since his debut against India in Adelaide five years ago. His returns have been decent, with the right-hand batter chipping in with 1641 runs at an average close to 33, while also grabbing 37 wickets. The fourth Ashes Test begins in Melbourne on December 26. (ANI)
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