Australia captain Pat Cummins has thrown his full support behind Cameron Green as the team’s long-term No. 3 in Test cricket, despite a modest performance in the World Test Championship (WTC) final against South Africa.
Green Gets Backing Despite WTC Final Struggles
Green, who was dismissed twice for just 4 runs by Kagiso Rabada in the WTC final, had previously impressed with three centuries for Gloucestershire before returning to the national side. Cummins has urged Green not to overanalyze those recent failures.
“𝑯𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒂 𝑻𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒐𝒃𝒗𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒍𝒚 𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒏’𝒕 𝒈𝒐 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒏. 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒆𝒆 𝒐𝒓 𝒇𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒃𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒔, 𝒔𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒐𝒐 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉,” 𝑪𝒖𝒎𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒔 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅.“𝑾𝒆’𝒓𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒚 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒈𝒂𝒎𝒆’𝒔 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰 𝒅𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒚 𝒘𝒆’𝒍𝒍 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒂 𝒅𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒓𝒖𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝑵𝒐. 3.”
No. 4 Role Goes to Inglis as Top Order Takes Shape
With Steven Smith still recovering from a finger injury, there was a chance for Green to move back to No. 4—a spot where he previously scored an unbeaten 174 against New Zealand. However, Josh Inglis will take up that position for the first Test against West Indies in Barbados, with Sam Konstas joining the top four.
Cummins added:
“𝑰 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒐 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒎𝒐𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒔. 𝑾𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒆 [𝑮𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒂𝒕 𝑵𝒐. 3] 𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈-𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒎 𝒐𝒑𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏.”
Labuschagne Faces Tough Path Back
The reshuffled batting order means that Marnus Labuschagne is currently out of contention and will need to score heavily in the Sheffield Shield to re-enter the Test fold.
“𝑰 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒍𝒚 𝒂𝒏 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝑻𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒃𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓,” 𝑪𝒖𝒎𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒅. “𝑶𝒃𝒗𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒄𝒖𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒊𝒔 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒈𝒖𝒚𝒔 𝒂 𝒈𝒐.”
Smith’s Return Expected for Grenada Test
Smith, who dislocated his finger at Lord’s, is recovering in New York and may be available for the second Test in Grenada, starting July 3.
“𝑯𝒆’𝒔 𝒈𝒐𝒕 𝒂 𝒇𝒆𝒘 𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏-𝒕𝒐-𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚 𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒐𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒔 𝒉𝒆’𝒔 𝒈𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒌 𝒐𝒇𝒇,” 𝑪𝒖𝒎𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒔 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅. “𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒎 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂 𝒃𝒊𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒂 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒎 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒉𝒊𝒎.”
Chase Hopes Australia Still Haunted by Past Loss
West Indies captain Roston Chase, taking over after Kraigg Brathwaite, playfully suggested that Australia may still carry emotional scars from their shocking loss at the Gabba in 2024.
“𝑰 𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒔𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒔,” 𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂 𝒔𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒆. “𝑰𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚’𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒈𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒘, 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒃𝒆 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒖𝒔.”
Cummins acknowledged the standout performance of Shamar Joseph in that game:
“𝑨 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑾𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝒈𝒖𝒚𝒔, 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒚 𝑺𝒉𝒂𝒎𝒂𝒓, 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒂 𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒐𝒖𝒕. 𝑰’𝒎 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕.”
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