- Followed a poor summer with the bat and ball in Ashes
Aussie cricket star Cameron Green had a series to forget in the Ashes over the summer – and the stress of his widely reported struggles appears to have reared its head in a shocking confrontation with a journalist.
The 26-year-old all-rounder made his Test debut in 2020 against India, and was soon regarded in some circles as a generational talent.
But in a sport where statistics define careers, Green hasn’t delivered recently.
His Ashes return makes for grim reading – 171 runs from five Tests at an average of 24.42.
Green also only managed four wickets with the ball, with his bowling average a concerning 70.75.
He then endured a poor T20 World Cup campaign that yielded just 24 runs at an average of eight.
Cricket star Cameron Green is clearly feeling the pressure when it comes to his lack of runs at the crease (pictured, with fiancée Emily Redwood)
Green’s petulant behaviour with one Sydney journalist earlier this week should ring alarm bells at Cricket Australia
Cameron Green plundered 135 in the Sheffield Shield for Western Australia – but any questions about his dip in form were seemingly off-limits
After blasting a much-needed century for Western Australia in the Sheffield Shield against NSW this week in Sydney, Green agreed to speak to journalist Tom Decent from the Sydney Morning Herald after stumps on Monday.
Having signed a $4.2 million deal to play in the Indian Premier League with the Kolkata Knight Riders, Green – who hadn’t spoken to media since December – should have been feeling upbeat.
Instead, he accused Decent of being ‘out to get him’ after the experienced scribe simply asked if Green was happy to be back among the runs.
Green also declared the ‘interview’ – which Decent cut short after the cricket star refused to answer another routine question – was a ‘waste of time.’
It came after Decent travelled to Sydney Olympic Park after the interview was rubber-stamped by Cricket Australia officials.
Perhaps the pressure is getting to Green – but it doesn’t give him the right to be petulant towards a reporter trying to do his job.
Western Australia Shield coach Beau Casson later defended Green, labelling the confrontation a ‘storm in a teacup.’
‘I think he (Green) just misunderstood the question asked,’ he told SEN.
‘It’s important for people to know, he’s got a wonderful personality and he’s a lovely man.
‘Yeah, I wouldn’t say it was a confrontation, it’s probably a storm in a teacup.’
In 29 career IPL matches, Green has averaged 41.58 with the bat at a strike rate of 153.69, with a top score of 100 not out.
He’s snared 16 wickets at 41.50 and an economy rate of 9.07.
Green’s $4.2million price tag eclipsed Australia team-mate Mitchell Starc’s $4million figure in 2024, when he also turned out for the Kolkata Knight Riders.
