\n<\/p>\n
Steve Smith has launched an impassioned defence of Cameron Green but can\u2019t guarantee the out-of-form allrounder\u2019s place in the XI for the Ashes series finale.<\/p>\n
Australia\u2019s stand-in captain insists all options are on the selection table for the fifth Test, including using both allrounders Green and Beau Webster at the SCG and leaving out spin for the third time in four starts.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll figure out [the team] once we see the surface and see which way we want to go about it,\u201d Smith said on Saturday morning.<\/p>\n
With the urn already retained, World Test Championship points and the chance to send retiring Usman Khawaja out a winner appear the hosts\u2019 biggest motivations.<\/p>\n
But pressure is mounting on the 26-year-old Green, the youngest member of the team.<\/p>\n
A solid contributor with the ball this Ashes series, Green has shifted around the batting order with an average of 18.7 runs and one score above 24 from six innings.<\/p>\n
Even that high score \u2013 45 under lights in Brisbane \u2013 was overshadowed by an audacious premeditated shot that left his stumps exposed and skittled by Brydon Carse.<\/p>\n
<\/span>Steve Smith delays confirming the Australia XI for the fifth Ashes Test at the SCG.<\/span> Photograph: Robbie Stephenson\/PA<\/p>\n Smith, who endured a lean start to the previous home summer, felt for Green.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve played on some hard surfaces for batting,\u201d the veteran right-hander said. \u201cWe\u2019ve seen two two-day games. It\u2019s not easy, but he\u2019s got himself in on a few occasions and probably not gone on with it.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s probably the disappointing part about it, starting your innings is actually the hardest thing, he\u2019s doing that pretty well and just finding a way to get out. He\u2019s batted in different spots, which also can\u2019t be easy as well when you\u2019re trying to nail down one sort of role.\u201d<\/p>\n After recovering from a long-term back injury, Green replaced Marnus Labuschagne at No 3 on the winter Test tour of West Indies and was Australia\u2019s third-top run-scorer.<\/p>\n \u201cNot too long ago he contributed some really valuable runs in the series in the West Indies on some tricky surfaces,\u201d Smith said. \u201cGreeny hasn\u2019t got the runs he\u2019s wanted so far but I think he\u2019s actually looked quite good at times too.<\/p>\n \u201cWe know he\u2019s a bright player, every time he goes back to Shield cricket he smashes it. Regardless of what happens right now, we think he\u2019s got a really bright future.\u201d<\/p>\n Able to bowl either spin or pace, Webster has not been afforded a chance this series despite an excellent start to his Test career that continued over the winter.<\/p>\n Both Webster and Green batted in the nets at training on Saturday.<\/p>\n With Webster breathing down his fellow allrounder\u2019s neck, Smith was asked point blank whether Green was locked in to play in Australia\u2019s last Test until August.<\/p>\n \u201cNo one\u2019s locked in yet,\u201d he said. \u201cAs I said before, we haven\u2019t picked a team. There\u2019s 13 or 14 guys on the table, we want to see the wicket and see how we match up against that.\u201d<\/p>\n Todd Murphy\u2019s hopes of a first home Test match are also up in the air after being overlooked for the seaming MCG deck.<\/p>\n Murphy last played on the Test tour of Sri Lanka in early 2025 and was brought into the Ashes squad as cover for injured veteran Nathan Lyon.<\/p>\n But he may end up surplus to requirements, with Smith conceding the SCG no longer amounted to the spinner\u2019s paradise of years gone by.<\/p>\n Lyon\u2019s bowling average of 39.2 at the SCG is his worst at any ground where a Test has been played this series.<\/p>\n \u201cI love the old-school SCG: flat for two days, footmarks starting to come in, cracks opening, reverse swing, spin late in the game, tricky to bat, slow, low wicket, fielders in front of the wicket,\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n \u201cBut I don\u2019t think it\u2019s been that as long as I\u2019ve been playing, unfortunately. It\u2019s probably one of Nathan Lyon\u2019s worst grounds in Australia, that\u2019s why all things are being talked about.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Steve Smith has launched an impassioned defence of Cameron Green but can\u2019t guarantee the out-of-form allrounder\u2019s place in the XI for the Ashes series finale. Australia\u2019s stand-in captain insists all options are on the selection table for the fifth Test, including using both allrounders Green and Beau Webster at the SCG and leaving out spin<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":40114,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[16527,346,6009,21622,728,21621,3665,2877,76],"class_list":{"0":"post-40113","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-ashes","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-cameron","11":"tag-coy","12":"tag-green","13":"tag-guaranteed","14":"tag-remain","15":"tag-spot","16":"tag-test"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40113","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=40113"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40113\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/40114"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=40113"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=40113"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=40113"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}