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The allrounder will go under the knife in a bid for a long-term solution to his back problems

Alex Malcolm13-Oct-2024Australia allrounder Cameron Green will undergo lower spine surgery and looks set to miss at least six months of cricket after being diagnosed with his fifth stress fracture in his lower back.After lengthy consultations with Cricket Australia medical staff over the past two weeks following the initial injury in the UK on September 24, Green is set to follow the same path that Jason Behrendorff, James Pattinson, Ben Dwarshuis and New Zealand quicks Shane Bond and Matt Henry have taken by having screws and a titanium cable fused into his lower back to stabilise the stress fracture and prevent future occurrences. Green has spoken to WA and club team-mate Behrendorff about his experience.Related

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• Steven Smith's Test opening stint over with middle-order return for India

The recovery ranges depending on the player but it is usually a minimum of nine months, although CA believes it will only take six months. That rules him out of the entire summer of cricket, which includes the five Tests against India, the tour of Sri Lanka and the Champions Trophy. The IPL, the World Test Championship final in June, if Australia make it, and the three-Test tour of the Caribbean in June and July of next year are possible given CA’s timeframe, especially as a batter only but bowling is a different story.Scans had shown the fracture in the UK but further assessments were required back in Australia as it is understood to be a different fracture to his previous stress injuries. Green has previously had four stress fractures in his lower back, which were recurring through his junior days all the way up to 2019, a year prior to his Test debut.CA’s medical staff are understood to be flummoxed by how this fracture has occurred after successfully managing Green through the past four years of international cricket, although he has always been vulnerable to another fracture given his history. CA released a statement outlining the reasoning for the surgery.”Cam has a unique defect in an adjacent area to the fracture that is believed to be contributing to the injury,” the statement said. “After thorough consultation it was determined Cameron would benefit from the surgery to stabilise the defect and reduce the risk of future recurrence.”He had a routine scan in August, something he does regularly, that showed up clear. That paved the way for him to bowl in the UK. He sent down 21.2 overs in the UK across five T20Is and two ODIs. The most he bowled in a match was the six overs at Chester-le-Street where he did deliver a barrage of short balls as Australia chased wickets, before pulling up sore.There are conflicting views within Australian cricket over his loads in the UK considering how carefully Mitchell Marsh was managed by comparison with the India Test series in mind. Marsh only bowled four overs for the whole tour, and they came in the game after Green flew home.But it is understood there were no indicators that Green was vulnerable in the lead-in and his bowling loads this year have been far lower than in 2021, 2022 and 2023. He bowled more than 230 overs in matches in 2021 and 2022, and 190 overs in 2023. But he had only bowled 124.3 overs to-date in 2024, albeit there were four Test matches to come for him. He was coming off a rare 10-week break from playing prior to the UK tour.The particular surgery Green will have has been very successful for many players including Behrendorff, who underwent the procedure in 2019. CA team physio Nick Jones oversaw Behrendorff’s recovery in 2019-20 when he was with WA having done extensive research on the surgery and the recovery process.ESPNcricinfo understands that the specific type of surgery has been performed on 26 patients over the course of nearly two decades by New Zealand-based surgeons Grahame Inglis and Rowan Schouten with 24 of them successfully returning to full fitness. New Zealand quick Kyle Jamieson is one of the unsuccessful ones so far but his specific case is understood to be very unusual and over the weekend Gary Stead said Jamieson was on track for a comeback during the Super Smash which starts in late December.Dwarshuis had the surgery in 2019 and was back bowling in grade cricket just seven months later and played domestic cricket within 10 months. He has played first-class cricket in the years since but has only appeared in nine red-ball matches.Behrendorff had surgery in October 2019 and did not play until December 2020. He has not returned to play first-class cricket but has had no real problems with his back since then.Pattinson took 12 months to return to first-class cricket and it was another 22 months before he played Test cricket, although he had been out of the Australian set-up for 18 months prior to the surgery due to his injury issues. He retired from professional cricket at just 32 as his body wilted.Henry had the surgery in 2012 when he was just 20 years old. His recent success against Australia in Test cricket earlier this year as a 32-year-old is an indicator of the long-term success that can be had.

Toby Albert, Mason Crane lend support in visitors’ 91-run victory

ECB Reporters Network11-Aug-2023Skipper Nick Gubbins led from the front with an impressive 119 from 123 balls as Hampshire ran out 91-run winners over Nottinghamshire in the first of three Metro Bank One-Day Cup ties at the tree-lined Welbeck Cricket Club ground in the north of the county.The left-hander hit 13 fours and two sixes, with most of his boundaries scored square of the wicket on a pitch that lacked pace. He had support from Toby Albert (44) and latterly Mason Crane (31) in Hampshire’s 254 all out. Seamer Dane Paterson led the Outlaws bowling attack with 4 for 41 with left-arm spinner Liam Patterson-White weighing in with 3 for 43 to go with a superb run-out.In the face of consistent bowling in which Ian Holland’s 2 for 19 off nine overs at the top of the innings was key, the Outlaws could muster only 163 in reply, bowled out in 42.2 overs with Matt Montgomery’s 42 their highest score, Crane picking up 3 for 38 with his wrist spin, and 17-year-old Eddie Jack finishing with 2 28 in only his second senior match.Winners of seven of their eight group matches last season but unable to get past eventual winners Kent in the semi-finals, Hampshire are supplying 10 players to franchises in The Hundred this season – albeit re-united with two of them in this match – yet have launched their 50-over campaign with three straight wins.After winning the toss, the Outlaws established an early advantage by taking the first three Hampshire wickets inside the opening powerplay. Paterson brought one back to bowl Fletcha Middleton before Tom Prest chased one outside off-stump that swung away further to be caught at second slip. Ben Brown was run out by Patterson-White’s direct hit after Gubbins chanced a single backward of square off Tom Loten.Aneurin Donald, characteristically aggressive, profited from a couple of short balls from Loten but was bowled driving loosely at a fuller ball to leave Hampshire 62 for 4, yet with Gubbins accumulating sensibly and 21-year-old Albert offering evidence of his potential the visitors had recovered to 122 for 4 at halfway, the skipper reaching 50 from 68 balls.The introduction of Patterson-White at the Charlie French End dragged the initiative back for the Outlaws, the left-armer claiming three wickets in the space of 14 balls. He bowled Albert as the right-hander gave himself room before trapping Holland and Scott Currie leg before, both playing across the line.At 161 for 7, Hampshire had work to do but Gubbins found a useful partner in Crane – released by Hundred side London Spirit to play here – as Nottinghamshire lost some of their grip and 78 were added in 74 balls, Crane disdainfully launching Montgomery’s off spin for two sixes before Gubbins, having hit 13 fours in a 113-ball hundred, let loose to dispatch Loten twice over the leg-side boundary.Loten gained revenge with a slower ball that saw Gubbins caught at long-on. Crane holed out to deep cover in the next over off Paterson, who ended the innings with one ball left of the 50th over by bowling Brad Wheal.Like Hampshire, the Outlaws struggled while the ball was still hard, losing three for 29 in the opening powerplay, Wheal striking with his fifth delivery as Ben Slater edged to second slip before.Holland found the edge as Lyndon James defended and ended the home side’s experimental promotion of Loten to number four by bowling the all-rounder for four, Gubbins sticking with the USA international’s accurate medium pace for nine overs straight, which stifled any attempts by the home side to build momentum.Nottinghamshire had needed to score at five an over yet at the halfway stage of their innings were below three with two more wickets lost after skipper Haseeb Hameed was leg before on the sweep to wrist spinner Crane and opener Ben Martindale’s rather torturous 28 from 72 balls ended with a mistimed chip to extra cover.Montgomery attacked with some success, particularly against Crane, who he pulled for six and hit for three fours, but a change of bowling saw Jack, a tall right-arm quick making his second List A appearance, dismiss Patterson-White, moments before new man Dane Schadendorf holed out to long on off Prest’s off-spin to leave the Outlaws 110 for seven in the 32nd.Jack picked up his second, producing a fine delivery to ensure Montgomery could offer no more threat, Crane getting his second courtesy of a remarkable boundary catch by substitute fielder Dom Kelly, who tossed the ball up twice as he struggled to stop himself toppling over the rope, before Hutton holed out to long off.

Howell stars for Gloucestershire with bat and ball, but visitors are out-muscled

ECB Reporters Network17-Jun-2022Somerset 184 for 6 (Gregory 60, Rossouw 54) beat Gloucestershire 177 for 8 (Higgins 43, Howell 42, Siddle 3-30) by seven runs Rapid half-centuries from Rilee Rossouw and Lewis Gregory paved the way for Somerset to clinch a Vitality Blast double over arch-rivals Gloucestershire with a seven-run win at a packed Cooper Associates County Ground, Taunton.On a sweltering evening, the hosts recovered from a slow start to run up 184 for six, Rossouw smacking 54 off 45 balls, with three sixes and five fours, while Gregory hammered 60 from 36 deliveries, clearing the ropes five times.Mohammad Amir (two for 25) and Benny Howell (two for 31) were the pick of the bowlers for Gloucestershire, who made a promising start in reply, but were eventually restricted to 177 for eight.Ryan Higgins hit 43 and Howell 42, but the visitors lost their way in mid-innings. Peter Siddle claimed three for 30 and Roelof van der Merwe one for 31All the talk before the game was about 200 being a par score on a white-looking pitch. But it gripped slightly to give the bowlers on both sides hope.Somerset soon found that to their cost as Will Smeed swung at the first two deliveries of the game from Amir without making contact and edged the third to slip.The Pakistan left-arm seamer went on to complete a wicket-maiden and far from making a fast start, the home side were becalmed on four for one at the end of the third over.Tom Banton and Rossouw than upped the pace, only for Banton to fall for 23 in the sixth over, bowled by Glenn Phillips, which ended with Somerset 43 for two.Tom Abell offered a tame caught and bowled to Howell, who bowled with typically clever variation of pace, line and length.Tom Lammonby fell to an ugly shot off Zak Chappell and at the halfway point of their innings his side had posted only 69 for four.Rossouw cut loose with two sixes and a four off Higgins in going to a 33-ball fifty. But when he fell to Howell in the 13th over, Somerset needed a hero.They found one in Gregory, fresh from a confidence-boosting LV= Insurance County Championship century against Surrey. The all-rounder cleared the ropes off Tom Smith, Chappell, Howell and Matt Taylor, whose 19th over cost 23, to boost what was looking a below-par score.The highlight of Gloucestershire’s fielding was stunning one-handed boundary catch by Miles Hammond to dismiss Ben Green.Hammond soon signalled his side’s intentions with the bat, hoisting the first ball of their reply from Siddle over mid-wicket for six.Somerset appeared to have learned little about the left-handed opener’s relish for scoring in that area from the reverse fixture eight days earlier and soon he was finding it again for another six off Gregory.Ultimately, it proved Hammond’s downfall as, on 19, he miscued a catch to wicketkeeper Banton off Jack Brooks. But by then Gloucestershire had raced to 33 off 3.1 overs.At the end of the six-over powerplay, the visitors had 51 for one on the board and looked well-placed.But Somerset then applied the sort of mid-innings squeeze their opponents have been so effective at over the years, spinners van der Merwe and Goldsworthy sharing six overs for just 42 runs.James Bracey (30), Glenn Phillips, Ian Cockbain and Jack Taylor all fell between the eighth and 13th over, the last of them to a one-handed boundary catch by Rossouw at long-on that rivalled Hammond’s take.Higgins and Howell briefly raised Gloucestershire hopes, the latter hitting sixes off successive balls from Green, before Siddle’s experience saw him effectively close out the match by taking three wickets in the 19th over.

With Jason Behrendorff and AJ Tye fit again, the Scorchers could field one of the strongest pace attacks

Alex Malcolm08-Dec-2020Captain Mitchell MarshCoach Adam VogesSquad Ashton Agar, Fawad Ahmed, Cameron Bancroft, Jason Behrendorff, Joe Clarke (Eng), Cameron Gannon, Cameron Green, Aaron Hardie, Josh Inglis, Matthew Kelly, Liam Livingstone (Eng), Mitchell Marsh, Colin Munro (NZ), Joel Paris, Kurtis Patterson, Jhye Richardson, Jason Roy (Eng), Ashton Turner, Andrew Tye, Sam WhitemanIn Joe Clarke, Colin Munro, Jason Roy
Out Chris Jordan, Morne Morkel (Heat)Overseas player availability Joe Clarke (replacement player until Dec 25), Liam Livingstone (quarantine until Dec 25), Colin Munro (all season) , Jason Roy (quarantine until Dec 25)Last season: 6thThe Scorchers really only had themselves to blame for the missing the playoffs with coach Adam Voges lamenting that they just lost a couple of key moments late in the season. After starting the season well with a revamped squad they lost four of their last five matches to let a finals berth slip away producing some dismal batting efforts in back-to-back losses to the Stars and their final game against the Thunder.Bubble impactThe Scorchers will be without two of their key overseas signings in Liam Livingstone and Jason Roy until Christmas as both need to quarantine for 14 days after arriving late from South Africa (although their involvement could now be in doubt given the Covid outbreak at the team hotel in Cape Town) but they have signed Colin Munro and Joe Clarke as cover for the first part of the tournament. The Scorchers local players will be barely impacted by international hubs with only Cameron Green set to be unavailable for large portions of the tournament due to his selection in Australia’s Test squad.Player to watchJosh Inglis isn’t a household name yet but the 25-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman had an excellent season last year and is certainly a player to keep an eye on. He made 405 runs last season with four half-centuries, but his strike-rate of 153.99 was clearly the best of the top 10 run-scorers in the BBL. He formed a formidable opening partnership with Livingstone and he is also the Scorchers best player of spin. His glovework is also highly regarded.Key statThe Scorchers were at one point the most successful team in the BBL. But in the last three years, they have been at the bottom. The Scorchers have won just 18 of the 39 matches played and have lost a lot of players due to injuries. Last season they had the best strike-rate at the death scoring at 10.32 runs per over. The return of Jason Behrendorff and the addition of Roy and Munro could help them improve their win-loss record this year.

High-profile captains named for each association’s team; number of first-class players cut to 96

Umar Farooq03-Sep-2019Sarfaraz Ahmed (Sindh), Babar Azam (Central Punjab), Shan Masood (Southern Punjab), Imad Wasim (Northern), Mohammad Rizwan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) and Haris Sohail (Balochistan) will lead six provinces in a new, streamlined domestic season set to begin next week. The welcome prospect of Pakistan’s elite players taking part in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy – from September 14 – is partially offset by the reduction in the number of players who can call themselves first-class cricketers this season: 96, down from 256 last season.According to the PCB’s new model, each of the six associations will have a pool of approximately 35 players, split in half between first-class and non-first-class categories. In all 192 players will be offered a year-long contract (in each province Pakistan’s centrally contracted national players such as Sarfaraz, Babar, Haris and others, do not get paid the provincial contract fees), with half playing first-class cricket and the other half playing three-day games, which don’t have first-class status, for their association’s Second XI.The old model, which included 16 regional and departmental teams playing first-class cricket, was officially scrapped by the PCB last week.Given that department sides have long employed the country’s best players – because they can afford to pay more – a large majority of the 192 players selected are those who were playing for department sides last year; many of the players who populated the regional sides last year don’t make the cut. Performances from the last three years of first-class cricket, the last two years from List-A cricket, and the last four years of under-19 cricket were taken into consideration before the squads were named.The scale of the change means, inevitably, there will be questions asked of selections across the squads. For instance, Imad has been made captain of Northern despite not being a regular red-ball cricketer. His last first-class game was two years ago and he’s played just five games since the start of 2015.And though the PCB has found a way to accommodate domestic veterans with little hope for Pakistan call-ups – such as Mohammad Sami and Aizaz Cheema – by putting them in as playing mentors of the province’s Second XI side, it has decided that Sohail Tanvir, another white-ball specialist, warrants a place in the Northern side. Tanvir will be 35 in December and has played eight first-class games since 2014.Both squads – the First XI and the Second XI – for each association was finalised by a three-member panel comprising of Misbah-ul-Haq, Rashid Latif and Nadeem Khan. The provisional squads list was put together earlier by the ex-selection committee members – Tauseef Ahmed, Wajahatullah Wasti and Wasim Haider – and the present junior selection committee – Saleem Jaffer, Arshad Khan, Rao Iftikhar, and Taufeeq Umar – alongside the regional coaches.Explaining the thought process behind the selections, Rashid Latif said emphasis was put on youth, and on legspinners since “we have to start searching for the replacements of Yasir Shah and Shadab Khan from today”. “We preferred players in early 20s who have shown improvement,” Latif said. “Those who have got a bit old and have had their performances go downhill were let go, which was a tough decision.”There might be questions on why there are only four local players in the First XI and ten in the Second XI teams from the Balochistan Cricket Association. The purpose behind making the call is to groom these players. At the moment, there are 44% native players in the side. Nadeem Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq and I have recommended the PCB to have 90% local players in the Balochistan sides by developing the game there.”Last year, 69 first-class games were played. Under the new structure, this season there will be 31 first-class games, and 16 T20s and 31 one-dayers. The squad for each of these formats will be selected from within the extended squad. The domestic season starts on September 14, with the first-class teams and Second XIs playing concurrently.The Second XI’s version of the country’s premier first-class tournament, the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, will include 30 three-day group matches, with a four-day final contested at Karachi’s State Bank Stadium from November 26.The squads:

Balochistan Cricket Association

Balochistan squad•PCB

Second XI: Akbar-ur-Rehman (c), Akhtar Shah, Atif Jabbar, Awais Zia, Dawood Khan, Fahad Iqbal, Gohar Faiz, Gulraiz Sadaf (wk), Haseeb Azam, Jalat Khan, Mohammad Junaid, Nazar Hussain, Rameez Raja (from Pishin), Shehzad Tareen, Taimur Ali, Usama Razzaq
White-ball specialists: Akif Javed, Ibtisam Sheikh, Mohammad Talha
Coaching staff: First XI: Altaf Jaffery (manager), Arshad Khan (head coach), Shoaib Khan (assistant coach); Second XI: Raj Hans (manager and head coach), Aslam Sheikh (assistant coach)

Central Punjab Cricket Association

Central Punjab squad•PCB

Second XI: Ali Waqas (c), Abdullah Shafiq, Ahmed Safi Abdullah, Aizaz Cheema (mentor), Ali Zaryab, Asad Raza, Atiq-ur-Rehman, Ayaz Tasawar, Bilawal Iqbal, Farhan Khan (wk), Irfan Niazi, Mohammad Akhlaq, Mohammad Ali (from ZTBL), Raza Ali Dar, Suleman Shafqat, Zahid Mansoor
White-ball specialists: Nasir Nawaz, Nauman Anwar, Usman Qadir (subject to availability)
Coaching staff: First XI: Khalid Niazi (manager), Ijaz Ahmed Jr (head coach), Samiullah Khan Niazi (assistant coach); Second XI: Naveed Anjum (manager and head coach), Akram Raza (assistant coach)

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Cricket Association

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa squad•PCB

Second XI: Khushdil Shah (c), Ahmed Jamal, Akbar Badshah, Arshad Iqbal, Asad Afridi, Asif Afridi, Atizaz Habib Khan, Azizullah (from Peshawar), Gohar Ali (wk), Irfanullah Shah, Khalid Usman, Mehran Ibrahim, Mohammad Mohsin Khan, Mohammad Naeem (from FATA), Sajid Khan, Samiullah Jr
White-ball specialists: Imran Khan Jr, Mohammad Arif, Mohammad Mohsin
Coaching staff: First XI: Farrukh Zaman (manager), Kabir Khan (head coach), Wasim Haider (assistant coach); Second XI: Riffatullah Mohmand (manager and head coach), Sajid Shah (assistant coach)

Northern Cricket Association

Northern squad•PCB

Second XI: Faizan Riaz (c), Ali Imran, Hasan Raza, Jamal Anwar (wk), Naved Malik, Raza Hasan, Salman Irshad, Sarmad Bhatti, Shadab Majeed, Shehzad Azam, Shoaib Ahmed Minhas, Syed Tauseeq Shah, Umair Khan, Umair Masood (wc), Usama Mir, Zeeshan Malik
White-ball specialists: Mohammad Amir, Sohail Akhtar, Zaid Alam
Coaching staff: First XI: Shakeel Ahmed (manager), Muhammad Wasim (head coach), Manzoor Elahi (assistant coach); Second XI: Tahir Mahmood (manager and head coach), Saeed Anwar Jr (assistant coach)

Sindh Cricket Association

Sindh squad•PCB

Second XI: Mohammad Sami (captain and mentor), Rameez Raja Jr (vc), Adeel Malik, Ahsan Ali, Ammad Alam, Ashiq Ali, Ashir Qureshi, Danish Aziz, Ghulam Muddasar, Hassan Khan, Jahid Ali, Mohammad Suleman, Mohammad Waqas, Rumman Raees, Saad Khan, Saifullah Bangash (wk)
White-ball specialists: Abrar Ahmed, Ahsan Jamil Mirza, Shahnawaz Dahani
Coaching staff: First XI: Rashid Khan (manager), Azam Khan (head coach), Umar Rasheed (assistant coach); Second XI: Tauseef Ahmed (manager and head coach), Shaukat Mirza (assistant coach)