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"Let's get a new back...": Green heads to Christchurch for surgery
Australian all-rounder Cameron Green is headed to Christchurch for a surgery following some issues with his back during the white-ball series against England in September, which will cause him to miss the entire Test summer, including the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against India from November 22. Green took to Instagram, letting his fans know that he is heading to Christchurch in New Zealand to "get a new back". Though he expressed his heartbreak at missing such an important and potentially career-changing Test season, he thanked fans for their kind messages.
"En route to Christchurch thanks for all the kind messages this past week. Heartbroken but let's get a new back," said caption of Green's post.
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The surgery has ruled Green out of the highly-anticipated Border Gavaskar Trophy against India, beginning on November 22. Green's expected recovery time is considered to be around six months, which will rule him out of Australia's Test tour of Sri Lanka in February and the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 in Pakistan. Considering his recovery time, he could also miss out on the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025.
The 25-year-old reported pain in his lower back during Australia's tour of the UK in September. He went for scans, and the reports revealed a stress fracture. Stress fractures are quite common among fast bowlers, with pacers James Pattinson, Jason Behrendorff, Ben Dwarshuis, and India's Jasprit Bumrah sustaining it during their careers.
But Cricket Australia stated that Green had a "unique defect in an adjacent area to the fracture that is believed to be contributing to the injury". "After thorough consultation, it was determined Cameron would benefit from the surgery to stabilise the defect and reduce the risk of future recurrence," CA added in the statement.
Previously, Green suffered from four stress fractures in his lower back. The injury was recurring through his junior days to 2019, a year before his Test debut. According to ESPNcricinfo, this type of surgery has been performed on 26 patients over the course of almost two decades. The surgery was performed by New Zealand-based surgeons Grahame Inglis and Rowan Schouten, and 24 of them successfully returned to fitness.
Australia pacer Behrendorff had surgery in October 2010 and was out till December 2020. He has not featured in first-class cricket from that point but has not suffered any issues with his back. Dwarshuis had surgery in 2019 and returned to first-class action after ten months. James Pattinson returned to first-class cricket after 12 months following the surgery. It took 22 months before he played Test cricket for Australia. (ANI)
