Last Updated on 5 months by Charbel Coorey

Cameron Green’s serious back injury has thrown a spanner into Australia’s planning for the upcoming Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT). He was set to be one of the team’s key players for the five-match series, with his batting, bowling and gully fielding key in Australia’s quest to break their ten-year drought against India.

Andrew McDonald, Pat Cummins and co. are now in strategy mode with a number of questions to answer. As reported earlier this year, Steve Smith will move back to number four, which leaves an opening spot vacant. Also, Mitchell Marsh has been short on bowling of late, where he played as a specialist batsman in Western Australia’s opening match of the Sheffield Shield season.

Cameron Green ruled out, so what do Australia do?

In this article, we will look at a few solutions Australia may be discussing at the meeting table. Getting the decision right is vital given their desire to beat India as well as reach their second-straight World Test Championship (WTC) Final.

1. Bring in a specialist opener

Given the strength of the Indian attack, the most obvious – and I think correct – solution is to bring in a specialist opener to partner Usman Khawaja. However, who that opener will be remains to be seen.

Of the experienced openers and supposed top three options – namely Marcus Harris, Matt Renshaw and Cameron Bancroft – Harris was the clear winner in round one of the Sheffield Shield. The left-hander scored a century and fifty for Victoria against Tasmania at Junction Oval. In contrast, Renshaw and Bancroft didn’t deliver, with the latter scoring a pair for Western Australia against Queensland.

However, there is still plenty of cricket to be played before the first Test on November 22. In fact, Harris, Bancroft and young-gun Sam Konstas have been named in the Australia A squad to take on India A in two four-day matches starting October 31. Renshaw has been left out, as has Sam Whiteman, who has struck a century in each of his past two Shield matches.

Konstas, who became the youngest since Ricky Ponting to score two hundreds in one Sheffield Shield match, is reportedly in contention for a Test debut. But, it would be too premature with just five Shield matches under his belt.

How the XI would look in this scenario: 1. Usman Khawaja, 2. Marcus Harris/Cameron Bancroft, 3. Marnus Labuschagne, 4. Steve Smith, 5. Travis Head, 6. Mitchell Marsh, 7. Alex Carey (wk), 8. Pat Cummins (c), 9. Mitchell Starc, 10. Nathan Lyon, 11. Josh Hazlewood

2. Bring in a second batting all-rounder

Given Marsh’s lack of bowling, Australia have the option of bringing in an all-rounder in the middle order. However, this would likely mean moving Travis Head to opener, which could backfire significantly.

If Australia choose this route, they do have options. Beau Webster has been the Sheffield Shield’s best player since the start of last season. In this period, Webster has scored 1,051 runs at an average of 65.69 and has taken 31 wickets at an average of 30.16. Webster is in Australia A’s squad to take on India A.

If Australia opt for another all-rounder, Aaron Hardie is an option. He has 1,699 FC runs at an average of 40.45 as well as 63 wickets at 28.53.

However, selection chair George Bailey said that the plan is for Marsh to bowl. “We certainly have been, and will continue, preparing for Mitch Marsh to be able to bowl some overs as well. That’s been part of his management and build for the last couple of months,” said Bailey as quoted by cricket.com.au.

How the XI would look in this scenario: 1. Usman Khawaja, 2. Travis Head, 3. Marnus Labuschagne, 4. Steve Smith, 5. Beau Webster/Aaron Hardie, 6. Mitchell Marsh, 7. Alex Carey (wk), 8. Pat Cummins (c), 9. Mitchell Starc, 10. Nathan Lyon, 11. Josh Hazlewood

3. Michael Neser

If Australia wish to have more bowling, there is the option of playing Michael Neser. He has averaged 34.22 with the bat and 21.90 with the ball over the past two Shield seasons. If Neser does play, he’ll likely bat at seven.

However, this option seems unlikely given Marsh and Carey will be batting a position too high and Head will likely be the opener. Against a quality Indian attack, Australia will need greater batting depth.

How the XI would look in this scenario: 1. Usman Khawaja, 2. Travis Head, 3. Marnus Labuschagne, 4. Steve Smith, 5. Mitchell Marsh, 6. Alex Carey (wk), 7. Michael Neser 8. Pat Cummins (c), 9. Mitchell Starc, 10. Nathan Lyon, 11. Josh Hazlewood

4. Bring in specialist opener and replace Marsh with an all-rounder

If Marsh is not ready to bowl, Australia have the option of bringing in two new players into the side – a specialist opener and all-rounder. Both Hardie and Webster bowl seam and can provide useful overs throughout the day’s play.

However, Bailey is on record of saying that an all-rounder is a “luxury” rather than a necessity. Also, coach McDonald and captain Cummins are big fans of Marsh.

“I think it’s [an all-rounder] a luxury,” said Bailey. “Even looking at the three quicks we generally play in Test cricket [Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood], they’ve played a lot of Test cricket together where they haven’t had an allrounder.”

How the XI would look in this scenario: 1. Usman Khawaja, 2. Marcus Harris/Cameron Bancroft, 3. Marnus Labuschagne, 4. Steve Smith, 5. Travis Head, 6. Aaron Hardie/Beau Webster, 7. Alex Carey (wk), 8. Pat Cummins (c), 9. Mitchell Starc, 10. Nathan Lyon, 11. Josh Hazlewood

Out of the four solutions, a specialst opener with Marsh at six seems to be most likely. Of course, much will depend on the Australia A and Sheffield Shield matches over the coming weeks.

“I think the consistency of Cam Bancroft over a number of years, the consistency of Marcus Harris over a number of years – they’ve both had a look at Test cricket as well,” said Bailey.

CricBlog is also on YouTube. Check out our video below where we discuss Australia’s options after Green’s injury