World Test Championship final: Cam Green included in Australia’s squad for battle with South Africa

West Australian all-rounder Cam Green has been named in Australia’s squad for the World Test Championship final and is set to play five-day cricket for the first time in 16 months.

Selectors on Tuesday unveiled their 15-player squad for the showpiece clash with South Africa from June 11, which includes Green for the first time since the Test series against New Zealand in March last year.

The 26-year-old went under the knife in October for radical back surgery after he was injured in a white-ball tour of England.

The squad includes both Sam Konstas and Marnus Labuschagne, who has been slated to replace him at the top of the order.

Konstas battled through the end of the Sheffield Shield season after playing his first two Tests against India and missing out on a county cricket deal.

Labuschagne has held his spot amid speculation he could open the batting alongside Usman Khawaja to make way for Green at No.3.

It means selectors could wait until the last minute to settle on their top-order selection squeeze.

“I don’t think we’re in a position to announce it,” selection chair George Bailey said.

“I think there are a few moving parts in terms of guys playing and where some of the other players — Cameron Green is returning as well, so where he works up in the lineup, Josh Inglis has performed really well — so I think with the squad, Pat (Cummins) and Andrew (McDonald) will have plenty of options.”

Bailey confirmed Labuschagne was an option to open.

Cricket Australia had floated at the end of the home summer they were keen for Konstas to do a stint in the United Kingdom, but he did not secure a deal.

The same squad is set to tour the West Indies in July, where Konstas will come into serious contention to start a new WTC cycle.

“We have been really strong on trying to delinieate between the World Test Championship final and then the West Indies will be slightly different,” Bailey said.

Scott Boland is in the squad if Josh Hazlewood’s battle with a shoulder injury lingers, while shield winner Brendan Doggett is the travelling reserve. Matthew Kuhnemann is Nathan Lyon’s direct deputy.

West Aussie Inglis is the reserve batter for the final but will come into the mix on the three-match tour of the West Indies as a spin specialist.

Green is three matches into a five-match stint with second-division county side Gloucestershire but has scored four-straight single-figure scores since hitting a century on debut.

“I think it’s great that he’s playing, it’s fantastic that he’s back and returned well,” Bailey said.

“It was fantastic to see him get some runs, but also just his ability to back up innings to innings and match to match, I think he pulled up pretty sore from that first innings having not played for a little while. He’ll get better and better.

“We know he’s a quality player, we know he’s a proven performer at Test level, so whether and how many runs he gets are not necessarily as much a concern.”

Marcus Harris had made a late charge for a recall, leading the run-scoring charts in county cricket’s second tier, batting at No.4 for Lancashire.

Australia has until the end of May to tweak the squad.

Earlier on Tuesday, Cricket Australia pledged to support players regardless of whether or not they returned to India for the resumption of the IPL.

Cummins is set to return to resume captaincy duties at Sunrisers Hyderabad, despite his side being out of contention.