The Ashes: Cam Green details the changes he has made to his bowling technique ahead of return to the crease

West Australian superstar Cam Green has detailed the technical changes he has made to his action after he had radical surgery to fix a long-term battle with back issues. In an interview with The West Australian, Green has also explained the call to skip Australia’s international tour of New Zealand next month to ramp up his Ashes preparation by playing for in the Sheffield Shield. The 26-year-old gun has played four Test matches and a series of white-ball internationals as a specialist batter since returning from his six-month injury layoff. But he has been quietly working on his bowling both at the WACA Ground and at training sessions between matches. Green is now close to bowling at full intensity and is expected to return to the crease in a match for the first time in a four-day match for WA against New South Wales at the WACA from October 4. He has revealed he has changed the angle of his run-up and his foot position to help mitigate issues with his back and the towering seamer is working on standing taller in his action. “There are a few technical changes that I’ve made to hopefully help with that. I was probably putting a bit too load on a certain area and it was probably due to technique, but at the same time I think it’s (about) more time in the gym, trying to get fitter and seeing if those technical adjustments do help and hopefully the surgery does its job and reinforces that area a little bit more than it was previously,” Green said. “I think all of those combined put me in a really good space, which is where I am at the moment. “I think I was pretty happy overall with where my technique was. It’s just adding a slight different run-up angle, trying to get my front foot slightly out the way for my body to come through a little bit easier and to stand up a bit taller. “All those little things hopefully are enough to put me in a really good space.” Selectors chose not to pick Green in Australia’s squad for three Twenty20 matches in New Zealand in early October so he could play for WA. That first match of the four-day season of the WACA Ground will feature fellow Ashes hopefuls Cam Bancroft, Sam Konstas and Kurtis Patterson. “I think it’s just really prioritising my bowling. I’ve obviously gone through a pretty significant surgery, we’ve done all the right things, so I don’t think we want to rush when we are right at the end of it,” Green said of the decision. “It’s been a long year trying to get back to bowling full 100 per cent intensity, so we don’t want to just slip up at the very end and do everything properly, because we have done the surgery properly, the rehab properly, it’s been a nice slow build-up. We’d hate to rush it now, so it will just be taking my time in shield cricket and getting ready for the Ashes. “The last four months have been about my batting, so it’s a good time to prioritise my bowling now for sure.” Green even said he feels like the significant break as he nursed the injury was a “blessing in disguise”. That call comes after long-time teammate and close friend Mitch Marsh told The West Green had come back a better player. “I’ve had my six months off, which is a bit of a blessing in disguise. Obviously you don’t want an injury all the time, but the silver lining was that I got a bit of a break,” Green said. “I came back really energised and then it’s been a big four months since I’ve been back. Fingers crossed that’s the end of my back worries.” Green battled with his back for “three or four years” before making the call to go and have surgery. It’s the same procedure a number of fast bowlers have had and State teammate Lance Morris will also travel to New Zealand for. “It’s been a long journey trying to do the right thing with it, trying to avoid surgery, but it became pretty inevitable by the end, so I’m happy I bit the bullet there, got that done and the body feels good now, it feels like I never had surgery, which is awesome,” he said. “The staff, the conditioning coaches, the physios, did everything in their power to give me the best chance to avoid it, but I think going through three or four years of doing that and it not quite working, it was the right time to get it done. “You don’t want to keep delaying the inevitable and it felt that way in the end, so I’m happy I got it done. “The whole six months rehab went really smooth and I’m feeling good now.”