London, June 9 (IANS) Australia’s fast-bowling all-rounder Cameron Green revealed that a special message from India’s bowling spearhead Jasprit Bumrah gave him the confidence about his decision to undergo back surgery.

Last year, Green had suffered a stress fracture in his back and chose to undergo surgery in October. Now playing as a specialist batter, Green is entering the upcoming World Test Championship final against South Africa on the back of three centuries during his county championship stint with Gloucestershire.

Bumrah himself went through the same surgery in 2023 and has put in strong performances on return to competitive cricket from September.

“He was in the middle of a Test match in India. Just a few things like that are really special and makes you feel a lot better about it. To get someone like him to reach out and then to watch him during the summer, to see how good he is obviously post-surgery, filled me with a lot of confidence,” Green was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo.

With Steve Smith set to bat at number four, it means that Green might have to bat at number three in the WTC final happening in Lord’s from June 11-15. But the all-rounder seems unfazed by that prospect, especially with confidence from scoring runs for Gloucestershire.

“You grow up through your whole career, you speak to anyone here, they’ve definitely batted in the top three or four throughout their whole junior career. I was no different, batting three until you get to first-class cricket. Absolutely no issues batting at three when you’ve done it your whole life.

“It’s certainly the best I’ve felt batting in England. To get the chance to come over and play some country cricket is massively valuable. So it’s the most prepared I’ve been. I think it’s learning what the different conditions can bring.

“Speaking to a few county guys who’ve been here for years, different ways to go about it. Certain cliches like defending straight and scoring square. It’s normally the complete opposite to Australia, where you’re looking to just hit straight down the ground,” he said.

Green signed off by saying how he made the most of his time off from the game while recovering from the back surgery. “The silver lining to having four back injuries is I’ve got four chances only to be a batter. I felt like my game’s always been good around those periods.”

“I’m always going to keep bowling, but you’re so much more relaxed (with) half a game to worry about. When you’re bowling and batting, there’s so much more you have to do bowling-wise to keep yourself fit and ready to play. It does take away from batting. So, certainly, just batting is nice, said Green.

–IANS

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