Dropping the ball on the off side, Green took off only to second-guess his own call, as if waiting for validation from Michael Neser, a man nine years older but playing just his fourth Test.
Neser, however, had taken the cue from Greenโs initial steps and was committed. He was not to blame. The hesitation and loss of momentum cost Green, as did his diagonal running line through the adjacent strip. He barbecued himself.
Green is a conundrum. His dismissals this series are those of an immature mind, yet Green as a 21-year-old prioritised a mindfulness coach to alleviate anxiety when others his age would sweat it out in the gym or the nets.
His wicket came out of the blue โ as much as one can on a day when there were 20 of them.
On a pitch bearing 10 millimetres of grass, Green had played with a calmness not evident even in Steve Smith. His pull shot off Josh Tongue, the second of back-to-back boundaries, bore the authority of Ricky Ponting in his prime.
He finished the over by shouldering arms twice and a textbook defensive shot back down the line. Players averaging less than 22 this year do not typically play with such conviction.
Cameron Green was looking good before his brain fade. Credit: Getty Images
In Beau Webster, Australia have a ready-made replacement โ who, in similar conditions, bailed his country out of trouble several times last year against an attack with Jasprit Bumrah.
Nobody would describe Webster as the best since Ponting, as Greg Chappell said of Green in 2020. In his past seven Tests, he is averaging 34.6 with four half-centuries and eight wickets at 23 compared to Greenโs 21.6 with the bat and 52.66 with the ball.
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At the age of 32, Webster is a player for the here and now. Greenโs time should be now.
Those with a glass half full view of Greenโs numbers this year will point to his steadiness in torrid conditions in the Caribbean.
The same selectors who batted Green at three in July now have him at No.7. The next stop on the totem pole is out of the side.
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