Cameron Green will miss the first Test against South Africa in Durban, which starts on 9 October, with an abdominal strain. Australia coach Andrew McDonald also said Green is unlikely to bowl at any point in the three-match series.
“It’s highly unlikely (he’ll bowl in this series).”
Andrew McDonald, pre-Test media, 7 October 2026
Green stays with the squad. He is working towards a return as a specialist batter for the Tests in Gqeberha or Cape Town.
Cameron Green won’t bowl in South Africa, having been ruled out of the first Test in Durban with an abdominal strain 🤕 https://t.co/hBvVmeOY63
— Cricinfo (@cricinfo) October 6, 2026
The medical team called it a stabilising strain, not a rotational one. That one detail explains why Green can bat again long before he can bowl.
Green was hurt in the third ODI at Potchefstroom. A Corbin Bosch beamer struck him in the groin, and he was out soon after when he gloved a pull to Quinton de Kock. He did not field again and missed the two-day tour match.
The strain is in a stabilising muscle rather than a rotational one, which the team sees as the better result. Green was also already managing a shoulder problem that kept him from bowling in the white-ball games against the Proteas. With both issues, McDonald called bowling “too high-risk”.
“We would be solely focused on getting him to return as a batter. We wouldn’t be putting that demand on him to return as a bowler.”
Andrew McDonald, pre-Test media, 7 October 2026
Insider Read
Batting asks the core to hold still. You brace, stay balanced over the ball, and let the hands and arms do the work. A stabilising muscle is doing its job when nothing moves, and that is what batting asks of it.
Fast bowling is the opposite. Every ball, the torso twists and bends forward at full speed, then the front foot lands and the trunk has to stop all of it. Do that on a healing muscle, with a shoulder already being protected, and you risk two injuries, not one. That is why Australia will take Green’s runs and leave his overs.
Who Replaces Green and Why Labuschagne Stays
Andrew McDonald thinks it’s too early to decide who will replace injured all-rounder Cameron Green in Australia’s XI for the first #WTC27 contest against South Africa in Durban 🤔
More 👉 https://t.co/x0L2I2MUJb https://t.co/eSTbv4FotF
— ICC (@ICC) October 6, 2026
McDonald says it is too early to decide who replaces Green at No. 5. Nic Maddinson has not played a Test since 2016 and joined the squad after Josh Inglis fractured a finger. Cooper Connolly’s spin could suit a Kingsmead pitch that is expected to dry and turn.
Without Green’s overs, Beau Webster looks set to play as fourth seamer. Alex Carey stays at six and Travis Head opens.
No. 3 is settled. Marnus Labuschagne made 111 off 89 balls against a CSA Invitation XI in Potchefstroom, reaching 100 off 76 balls with 19 fours before retiring. It was his first hundred in any format in 11 months, and it quietens the doubts that followed him into this tour, though it came against an attack well below South Africa’s Test pace unit.
| Test | Venue | Dates | Green |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Durban | 9 to 13 Oct | Ruled out |
| 2nd | Gqeberha | 18 to 22 Oct | Possible return as batter |
| 3rd | Cape Town | 27 to 31 Oct | Possible return as batter |
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