Green targets Ashes bowling return, stars on track for WTC final

Allrounder to push for World Test Championship final recall ahead of longer-term goal of bowling against England next summer

Cameron Green hopes to be back bowling in time for next summer's Ashes series, while the allrounder is one of several Australians on track to overcome injuries ahead of the World Test Championship final.

Green revealed he might have returned from major back surgery to feature in the Sheffield Shield final if Western Australia had qualified, but will instead end a six-month playing absence when he begins a UK county stint with Gloucestershire next month.

Last October, the 25-year-old underwent the same radical spinal operation that extended the careers of the likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Shane Bond, James Pattinson, Jason Behrendorff and Ben Dwarshuis.

Positive feedback from the latter two helped persuade Green to go under the knife for the serious operation that involves a titanium cable being fused into the lower spine.

The procedure has a high success rate in fast bowlers, but it is invariably a long road back to full fitness. While it may be a full year before Green is back at full tilt with the ball, he is a unique case given he looks likely to return to international cricket as a batter only.

But the allrounder insists he remains eager to resume bowling ahead of next summer's five-Test home series against England.

"The aim is the Ashes. We're just working back from there. I should be ready to go for probably the start of the Shield season I'd say," Green told reporters in Perth as part of Cricket Australia's 2025-26 fixture launch on Monday.

"That's the main reason why I got the surgery – It's for the long-term goal of playing cricket for as long as I can, bowling for as long as I can. I got it for that reason solely.

"I could have healed it over nine months (instead) but I took the option to get the surgery. Fingers crossed that's the last of it."

'I was so happy watching. At the same time you want to get back into the team' // Getty

In the meantime, Green looks set to join Nathan Lyon (hip), Scott Boland (knee) and Usman Khawaja (hamstring) as Australia stars expected to overcome fitness concerns ahead of the WTC decider against South Africa in June.

Before then, Green will travel to Bristol where he will play five games for the Cameron Bancroft-captained Gloucestershire in the County Championship. They will mark Green’s first first-class matches since last year's two-Test tour of New Zealand.

The right-hander acknowledges he is no certainty to return to Australia's XI to face the Proteas at Lord's, especially given he will not be bowling and the impressive entrances made by Beau Webster and Josh Inglis into the middle-order during his absence.

"That was always the goal (as a batter) over the last six months," Green said of the WTC final.

"I'd always set my mind on maybe getting back for the last Shield game, but then it turned pretty quick to the World Test Championship and what's giving me the best chance to be available for that and push my name for selection.

"We have got an ultra-successful top five, six, seven (in the Test side). It's never easy (to get back in). You want someone to rise to the challenge and take that position for themselves and that's what's been done.

"They've had another ultra-successful summer and I was so happy watching. At the same time you want to get back into the team."

Players in Australia's plans for the WTC final and ensuing three-Test series in the Caribbean who are not playing county cricket or in the Indian Premier League will take part in a series of mini camps in Brisbane in the weeks before leaving for London.

Boland, one of the stars when Australia won the ICC mace in 2023 after beating India at The Oval, will ramp up his preparation in Melbourne over the coming weeks after a long-standing knee complaint ended his season early.

A fan takes a photo with Boland at CA's '25-26 schedule launch // Getty

The 35-year-old was a late scratching from the last Sheffield Shield round having aggravated a left knee niggle after he bowled 78 overs in two matches for Victoria following his 10-wicket sign-off to the Test summer at the SCG.

The Vics, like Green’s WA and Lyon’s NSW, were pipped by Queensland for a spot in last week's final.

Boland could yet take up a one-game county deal ahead of the WTC final before another period of preparation leading into the home season.

01:41 Play video Fan favourite Boland takes six to edge Aussies closer to series win

"It got progressively sorer as the summer went on just through bowling," he said of the knee issue that initially flared up after a change to his gym routine last year.

"I bowled a fair bit in those last couple of games. If we made the Shield final I would have been fine to play but we took the conservative route there … It's just about working out what's working and what doesn't. I've only had this little knee injury for 8-10 months.

"I've got the next month to really build up my strength in my whole body and then ramp up bowling again and get over to England.

"Hopefully we can put in a really good game. We played so well in that Test Championship final against India a few years ago. I'm sure everyone will be super motivated to get over there and win that again."

Khawaja took part in the recent Shield final following a public spat with Queensland Cricket high performance boss Joe Dawes that centred on the 38-year-old missing the Bulls' preceding match.

After the Test opener fielded questions about attending the Formula One Grand Prix in Melbourne instead, it was Lyon's turn for the same on Monday.

The off-spinner shed some light on the extent of a hip issue that nagged him during the home summer and ensuing tour of Sri Lanka. He ripped tissue off the fascia in his left hip, and was in pain if he landed on it. The area also filled with fluid when Lyon ran so required draining more than once.

Lyon battled a hip issue during the summer // Getty

"I'd been medically ruled out, to clear all that up," said Lyon of missing the final few Shield rounds. "The plan was to play the Shield final if NSW were lucky enough to get in there but that wasn't the case.

"I've been doing a fair amount of rehab, pretty well five days a week. That's the reason I didn't play the Shield game.

"I love playing cricket for NSW and state cricket. Any opportunity, I'll play. But in saying that, the F1 was pretty good."

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