Cam Green ruled out of Australia’s first test vs South Africa

Australia all-rounder Cameron Green will miss ​the first test against South Africa after failing to ⁠recover from an abdominal strain, coach Andrew McDonald said on Tuesday.

Green was hurt during the last one-day international against South Africa in Potchefstroom on Wednesday ‌after being struck in the stomach by a full toss from Corbin Bosch that left him writhing in pain. ‌Two balls later, his attempted pull shot bounced off his ‌gloves ⁠and he was not only caught but strained his muscles ⁠as he fell to the ground.

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“It’s an odd one and had our medical team scrambling, so I’m not going to go down what the medical said around ​it, but there’s not a ‌hell of a lot of evidence in these injuries in cricket,” McDonald told a press conference.

“They said it’s a stabilising muscle, so I think that’s a better result than a rotational muscle.”

Green remains ‌in contention for the second test in Gqeberha and the ​third in Cape Town.

“He’s progressing pretty well, all things considered, on the back of the injury that he ⁠had to his abdominal. McDonald said. “He’s still here for a reason, so there is some light at the end of the tunnel. It’ll just ‌be a matter of going through the rehab.

“It’s a bit of an unknown, but there’s still optimism that he’ll take part in the series at some stage,” the coach added.

BEGAN TOUR WITH SORE SHOULDER

The 27-year-old started the tour of southern Africa with a sore shoulder which kept him out of the three ODIs against Zimbabwe, but ‌he did play in the three ODIs versus South Africa.

Green’s absence will be ​a blow as he is considered one of the form players in the touring party, especially after he scored ⁠a first home test century when Australia suffered a shock loss to ⁠Bangladesh in Darwin in August.

Cooper Connolly, 23, could be in line for a second test appearance after his February debut ‌in Galle against Sri Lanka as Green’s replacement although Australia will not be settling on its line-up until it better assess ​the pitch conditions, McDonald added.

Published on Oct 06, 2026