'Didn't cut any corners': Green to test tweaked action ahead of Ashes – Australian Broadcasting Corporation

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Topic:Cricket
Australia is hoping a tweaked bowling action helps Cameron Green to stay on the park more often ahead of the Ashes. (Getty Images: Matt King)
Cameron Green is set to bowl with his new action in Western Australia's Sheffield Shield clash against Queensland.
Green is expected to bowl 15-20 overs in the match, his first bowling action since October 5, when he bowled four overs against NSW.
Green's ability to bowl will likely determine whether opener Jake Weatherald is handed a Test debut or whether fellow all-rounder Beau Webster can remain in the side.
Cameron Green's reworked action is set to undergo its most gruelling on-field test at the WACA, in what looms as a crucial week for Australia ahead of the Ashes.
Green is set to play his first competitive game in six weeks, when he returns on Tuesday from minor side soreness against Queensland in the Sheffield Shield.
Officials expect the 26-year-old to bowl 15 to 20 overs for Western Australia, in the final full week before the first Test in Perth starts next Friday.
Green has bowled just four overs this season, back on October 5 in the Shield clash with NSW at the WACA.
His last bowling stint in a match before that was in an ODI series in England in September last year, while he last ran in to bowl during a Test match in New Zealand in March 2024.
Green had surgery on the fifth stress fracture in his lower back in October of 2024 and returned to the Test side as a batter only during the winter.
A long and cautious return has followed, including playing the last Shield game as a batter only while still bowling in the nets.
"There have been minor changes with the bowling angle of my run up and trying to get my front foot slightly more out of the way and to the left, so I don't have to fall over too much to get through the crease and trying to stand a bit taller," Green told AAP.
"It is not like there has been a complete reinvention of my action.
"We have had an awesome 11 months being really diligent, getting my back in a really good spot. I didn't cut any corners.
"There was an Ashes we were focusing on, so there was no need to rush me back.
"It was always going to be about easing my way back with a slow build-up through Shield cricket for WA.
"That is a great way to go about it. If we do all the right things, it will pay dividends later."
Cameron Green's ability to bowl during the Ashes could determine whether or not fellow all-rounder Beau Webster (left) gets into the playing XI. (AP: Ricardo Mazalan)
Green's ability to bowl without issue this week could have some bearing on Beau Webster and Jake Weatherald's Test chances.
Neither was able to make a big score for Tasmania against South Australia on Monday, as selectors weigh up playing an extra all-rounder in Webster or a specialist opener in Weatherald.
Regardless, chief selector George Bailey said he was not concerned by the fact Green had bowled just four overs in a match so far this summer.
"It is a 12-month build, so to rush a step at the last moment doesn't make much sense," Bailey said.
"Your all-rounder doesn't need to be in a position to bowl 30 to 40 overs hopefully. I think he will be really well placed.
"We are confident we will get good information from this round of Shield cricket and he will be bowling for us (in the opening Test)."
AAP
Analysis by Marnie Vinall
Analysis by Dean Bilton
Analysis by Michael Doyle
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