Cameron Green has taken a step forward in his recovery but the Western Australian remains in significant doubt to feature in the second Test against South Africa in Gqeberha beginning on Sunday.
Australian coach Andrew McDonald said before the team left Durban after their 214-run in the first Test against the reigning World Test Championship winners that Green is progressing and they are hopeful he will feature in the series.
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The only batter to fire in the shock loss in Darwin to Bangladesh in August when scoring a century, Green suffered an injury in a one-day international just over a week before the Test series when struck by a full toss.
He was not spotted in the nets during the Durban Test but he was doing a series of sprints during the lunch break at Kingsmead Stadium on Day 5 of the match.
There is also the wrinkle that he will not bowl even if he does play due to a separate shoulder problem that prevented him from bowling in the white ball series against Zimbabwe and South Africa.
“Cam hasn’t started batting yet,” McDonald said.
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“You may have seen through the lunchtime break that he has started running and he’s progressing well, and as I said before, first Test match, we’re confident that he can play a part in the series at some point.
“He’s got a few things to go through in the next little three to four days. He’ll progress that, and on the back of a soft tissue injury, we do it can accelerate along with this. So even if you asked me a week ago where he would at, he is doing set running and doing all the physical work.”
Similarly with Josh Inglis, the Australians will assess how he progresses against the red ball this week in Gqeberha, which was formerly known as Port Elizabeth, but the reserve wicketkeeper is at least back in the nets after breaking his finger.
The Australian coach said the manner with which the tourists responded from a position of peril on the first day to dominate the Test as it progressed was a demonstration of their resilience as much as their ruthless focus to finish off the Proteas.
“Any Test win is satisfying, but to see the team at six for 124, I suppose, to show that resilience, and also still a craft in that situation in particular to be able to play that way … that’s played out well in significant moments,” he said.
“We also spoke about having to win the smaller moments across this Test series in its entirety, and the small moments mean lower order batting, so while Renshaw played an incredible innings, he had to have someone down the other end to allow that contribution.”
But the dominance of the victory in the opening Test has not settled questions surrounding the make-up of the Australian side given the queries surrounding the availability of Green and Inglis.
Even the question as to who will open remains up in the air despite Matthew Renshaw’s stunning performance in Durban, for he batted down the order in part because selectors considered his excellence against spin would see him better suited at No.5.
So does that mean Renshaw is now the permanent No.5 or will he revert back to being the opener he was recalled as in August?
“I think every time we plan out against an opponent or surface, we’re really open-minded to what that means,” he said.
“I suppose the external review on that is that … at certain times, this person is an opener, this person is a middle-order bat, I think we’re more open-minded than that. But it doesn’t make it right either.
“So we’ll assess what we need to do for the next Test in PE … and see what the surface potentially holds there. So in terms of where Matt Renshaw will bat, we will work through that.”
Spin did not prove to be as big a factor as anticipated at Kingsmead Stadium and the Australians are wary of committing to anything prior to assessing what will be on offer at St George’s Park next week.
“I think we view Nic Maddinson in the same way that we view Matt Renshaw, that they can bat one, two, three, four or five, and potentially even at six,” McDonald said.
“We’re trying to create that versatility in our order and injury has pushed us into this conversation as well.
“It’s not like we set out and designed that at the start of it, but do we like (his) ability to play against quicks, and yes, do we like Matthew Renshaw’s ability to play against spin? That is yes also.
“So it’s about finding out the best place against the opposition … we’ve got that balance right here for that but that may not always be the place.”
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McDonald believes the selection of Maddinson was proven correct with his dashing second innings of 48, which followed an extraordinarily scratchy 33-ball drought on the first morning.
The Australian coach declared the critiques that flew following his first innings premature. He also said that just because Maddinson played with dare in his second dig, it did not necessarily mean he would always attack from the get-go.
“I think Nic Maddinson is a very mature player who will assess the conditions,” he said
“There was a heavy critique in his first innings. He left the ball well. There was a lot of offer (for the bowlers). He probably played at a ball that early all he had been leaving.
“I don’t think that you’ll see him just go out there and throw the bat at them. It is the same with Travis Head. When they do get away, they will put extreme pressure on the opposition. But there are times in Test cricket when opening the batting that you do have to respect the conditions and the bowler.
“That was a difficult time. The method he was applying to his dismissal was the way he had read that scenario. He is a mature player and he reads the game well.”
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