West Australian all-rounder Mitch Marsh to return to bowling ahead of Border-Gavaskar series with India

Mitch Marsh will ramp up his bowling loads in Western Australia’s Sheffield Shield match from Sunday with an eye to being the Test team’s No.1 all-rounder this summer.

Fellow WA all-rounder Cam Green was on his way to New Zealand on Wednesday to have surgery on his back which will rule him out for around six months.

And selection chair George Bailey strongly hinted this week Australia will not draft in another bowling option to partner Marsh, with a specialist opener now the most likely option for the five-Test series against India from November 22.

Marsh did not bowl in WA’s draw with Queensland to open the shield season last week, but will bowl at least some overs against Tasmania at the WACA Ground in the match starting Sunday.

“I will bowl against Tassie. It’s been a slow build,” he said on Wednesday.

“I have been really well looked after by Cricket Australia and by Ronny (Andrew McDonald) and by Patty (Cummins), just our planning around when I bowl.

“I love bowling, so I’m looking forward to bowling for Western Australia this week and build things up to that first Test.

“I see the all-rounder role being really important, especially for when our bowlers need a bit of a break. I think if you look back at the last few seasons, our all-rounders have bowled maybe 10, 13 overs a game, which is not really a lot, but those overs can be really important.”

The 32-year-old wouldn’t put a cap on how many overs he could bowl for Australia and said he would bowl as much as “Patty needs me to”.

Green took to Instagram on Wednesday as he heads to Christchurch for the surgery which involves using screws to bind part of the back together.

“En route to Christchurch. Thanks for all the kind messages this week,” he posted.

“Heartbroken but let’s get a new back.”

Marsh said he was “shattered” for his close friend Green.

“He just loves cricket, he loves playing cricket for Australia. What I know about Cam is he will be back and we will welcome him back with open arms.

“From all reports he’s pretty good, initially there is always a shock. It all happened pretty quickly. Certainly with stress fractures they can be quite a gradual thing, but this one came pretty quickly.

“Someone like Cam with his attitude towards the game, he loves it, the thought of missing that much cricket is probably a little daunting for him, but he’s accepted it now and as an athlete you go through these things.

“It’s an opportunity for him to come back better and I have no doubt that he will.”

Marsh was quick to shut down suggestions he could shoot to the top of the order in the Test team and was hesitant to weigh into the debate around a replacement, even when asked about long-time teammate Cam Bancroft.