After an underwhelming summer so far, the upcoming Sydney Test looms as a defining moment in the career of Cameron Green.

The all-rounder has shown more than just glimpses of his undeniable talent in the Test arena, but he is yet to truly shine with the eyes of the nation upon him.

Green has not made a Test century at home and, unusually for an Australian cricketer, has a significantly higher batting average overseas (36.69) than he does in Tests hosted in Australia (27.8).

Speaking to ABC Sport's Summer Grandstand program on what would have been the third morning of the Boxing Day Test, Green said he had only recently adjusted to the pressures of playing at home.

"Probably at the start of my career, I was really nervous playing at home," Green said.

"More expectation, home crowd, I think I really took a while to get used to that.

"I feel like I've got over that hurdle.

"So yeah, maybe I've just been relaxed on the road to start my career, a little bit less eyeballs, and yeah, it just happens to be that way at the moment."

Although injuries have punctuated his international career to date, Green has been a key member of Australia's all-format set-up since his Test debut as a 21-year-old in December 2020.

The now 26-year-old's first international century came against India in Ahmedabad in March 2023, but it was his 174 not out in New Zealand 11 months later that suggested the West Australian had truly arrived in international cricket.

On a seam Wellington green top, Green, batting at No. 4 in the absence of Steve Smith, was the only Australian to pass 50 in the game.
But that series against New Zealand was the last he'd play for over a year, with a back injury keeping him out of the 2024-25 home summer against India and the tour of Sri Lanka that followed.

Although still unable to bowl, he returned to the team for the World Test Championship final against South Africa and the tour of the West Indies in mid-2025, batting at first drop after Marnus Labuschagne's poor form pushed him to the fringes of the team.

While Green only managed to pass 50 once in nine innings at No. 3, he made some important contributions in very bowler-friendly Caribbean conditions, and was only outscored by Travis Head and Alex Carey in the three-match series.

Green said that the tour was a steep learning curve for him, and one that would serve him well moving forward.

"I think that's probably the experience you get that you don't have at the start of your career," Green said.

"You don't really have the confidence to go out there and try and score runs, you kinda want to get in and build your innings.

"That's the experience you get from playing on not great wickets in the Caribbean — you gotta score before they get you out."

Midway through that tour, captain Pat Cummins said the Australian brains trust very much viewed Green as a "long-term option" in the top order, but Labuschagne's return to form forced Green back down the list for this summer's Ashes.

Coming in at No. 5, 6, 7 and 8 across six innings, Green has averaged just 18.66 and looked uncomfortable, while he has bowled well with limited opportunity.

Green, of course, is far from alone in his struggles this summer, with Carey and Head the only Australians to have delivered with the willow consistently.

An unsettled line-up, coupled with often tough and sometimes farcical conditions have meant this summer has followed a similar trajectory to those in recent memory.

Since the 2020 re-design of the Kookaburra ball and the preparation of results-oriented pitches during the World Test Championship era, run scoring in Australia has been historically difficult.

Head was the only Australian to average over 35 in last summer's series against India, and, among still active players, Smith was the only one to average over 40 in the summer before that.

"You might say the wickets haven't been amazing at home in the last few years," Green told ABC Sport.

Although admitting he hadn't scored "the runs [he] would've have wanted" so far in the series, Green was quick to point out that retaining the Ashes was his, and his team's, only goal for the summer.

"As a team, we only had one goal, and that was to win the Ashe; it didn't matter who put their hand up," Green said.

"Obviously, Starcy and Heady have been exceptional for us; Barrel [Scott Boland] always does what he does.

"Our only goal was to win the Ashes, we've done that, and now it's just to finish it off really well."

With the urn already safe for another year and a half at least, and with a more than able replacement in Beau Webster breathing down his neck, Green now has a golden, sun-drenched opportunity to truly light up an Australian summer for the first time in his career.