August 11, 2026 — 11:49amCameron Green spent 30 minutes locked in earnest conversation with captain Pat Cummins and coach Andrew McDonald at training on Tuesday morning as the trio wrestled with the biggest question in Australian cricket.How does the team find a way to get the best out of 27-year-old Green, who after six summers in a baggy green is yet to fully capitalise on his outrageous talent.All-rounder Cameron Green (centre) signing autographs for cricket fans in Darwin flanked by Beau Webster (left) and Steve Smith.Getty ImagesWhile there are no suggestions that Green will be dropped from the team this week – certainly not judging by the movements of reserve batter Josh Inglis – it is no secret that the West Australian all-rounder has been close to the edge of selection in recent times.There have also been concerns that, despite having been in and around the team for six years, he is yet to find a settled place within it, both on and off the field.Australian captain Pat Cummins, all-rounder Cameron green and coach Andrew McDonald in deep conversations in darwin as the team prepares for the first Test against Bangladesh.Daniel BrettigThere is a marked contrast between Green and the older, more streetwise Beau Webster, who was never identified as a long-term Test player in the same way as Green but has shown with plenty of grit and cricket smarts that he is capable of holding his own at international level.“The biggest thing I’ve learned is that I’m good enough at this level,” Webster said as Green, Cummins and McDonald did their conversational laps of the oval. “You never really know.“The question in the lead-up to that first Test was, ‘do you feel ready’, and although I was bluffing myself saying ‘absolutely’, at the end of the day you don’t really know until you get out there and face the bowlers from other countries and are put into situations with big crowds and big moments in games of cricket where you’re expected to perform. That was the biggest tick over the last 12 months.“I forced my way into this team through weight of runs ... primarily as a batter you deal in runs, and that’s been my way into the team and the way to stay in the team. What I’ve done in my first eight Tests with the bat has probably showed I can be considered a genuine top-six batter.”Green's best has been outstanding. There was a match-winning century in Wellington against New Zealand on a tough pitch in 2024, another hundred in India the year before, and some superb catches and bowling spells along the way.But last summer during an Ashes series largely dominated by Australia, Green struggled to find his best, summed up when he was bowled by a Yorker he could barely reach after backing away in anticipation of a short ball under lights at the Gabba.Spinner Nathan Lyon shares a laugh with cricket fans in Darwin ahead of the Test match starting Thursday.Getty ImagesThere have also been other moments, whether a confrontation with a journalist at a Sheffield Shield game or an on-field protest about the bowling action of Pakistan's Usman Tariq (for which he later apologised), that have raised the question of whether he is concentrating on the right things.Webster, for his part, has been consistent in his belief that the two all-rounders can co-exist in the team.“I don’t see why not,” Webster said. “It’s surely more of a benefit to have more options in that top seven with the ball, and I certainly don’t see it as a direct competition. It only adds more option and more benefits for the captain if we’re both performing with the bat, with both of our main skill, and what we can offer in the field.“I love playing with Cameron, I love having the options if he’s on with the ball or if I’m on with the ball, we can chop and change if the big three and the spinner need a chop-out. So I’m more than happy.“I’m just happy doing my job and making myself hard to leave out of the 11, whether that’s with the bat or the ball. I pride myself on being able to contribute in all facets of the game, and so does he. It just so happens that we’re allrounders and both primarily batters.”News, results and expert analysis from the weekend of sport sent every Monday. Sign up for our Sport newsletter.From our partners