Cameron Green ruled out of Test series opener in Durban

Head coach Andrew McDonald confirmed on Tuesday (October 6) that Cameron Green has been ruled out of Australia's first Test against South Africa in Durban due to an abdominal injury.

Green suffered the injury while batting during Australia's third ODI against South Africa in Potchefstroom last week. He was struck in the abdominal region by a delivery from Corbin Bosch and subsequently sat out the two-day tour game that followed as he began his rehabilitation.

Australia are hopeful the 27-year-old all-rounder could still feature later in the series, but his involvement could be restricted to the role of a batter. McDonald stated that Green was progressing well and will undergo rehabilitation for a week before gradually returning to cricket-related activities.

McDonald disclosed, "He won't be available for the first Test match," stating that the recovery has been encouraging. "He's progressing pretty well, all things considered, on the back of the injury that he had to his abdominal. So he's still here for a reason, so that there is some light at the end of the tunnel."

Green is expected to have a few net sessions during the first Test as part of his return to cricket plan. "It'll just be a matter of going through the rehab. This week, he has a pretty demanding week due to the reintroduction of a few activities, which you'll probably see play out on the net during lunchtime in and around the game. So yeah, it's it's a bit of an unknown, but there's still optimism that he will take part in the series at some some stage," added McDonald.

Meanwhile, McDonald did not confirm that Beau Webster would be an automatic choice in Green's absence. The 32-year-old all-rounder featured in the two-Test series against Bangladesh in August this year along with Green, and has played 10 Tests since January 2025, when he made his debut against India in Sydney.

"I don't think anything's automatic," said McDonald on Webster. "The all-rounder has always been there for us, but there hasn't been a lot of pressure on how many overs they have to bowl.

"So, yeah, I think the the beauty of the squad that we've got is we can go in many directions, depending on you know what we hypothesize what's going to happen over the five days the day before. So I think we've got all bases covered, which is nice to have that.

"As a result, there is a lot of discussion about which direction we should take, and three days out is never a good time to start those discussions. The coach of Australia stated, "We've got a main session today, so we'll get a little bit more information on where the players are at in terms of you know, their skill work and where they're placed. As that surface starts to present closer to the game as to what it may start like, I think that's when we can narrow in."