Cameron Green blew up at a Shield game. It was the moment he turned his Test career around

Mackay: Cameron Green has revealed how a low moment last summer became the point at which he finally nailed down the formula to become the Test batter that Australia desperately need him to be.

Green, 27, made unfortunate headlines in March when he got into a press conference confrontation with a journalist following a Sheffield Shield game in Sydney, but he said on Thursday that the hundred he made that day was the moment he committed to a red-ball batting method to take back to Test cricket.

The hundred had followed a frustrating Ashes summer where Green often looked in an inordinate rush to make things happen, summed up by an ugly dismissal , backing away and bowled by England’s Brydon Carse at the Gabba.

Australia were humbled by Bangladesh in Darwin last week, but Green’s second-innings century was proof that the mode of batting he settled on in March – so much so that he is revisiting the notes he made on that innings – is the right one for him.

“I went back to how I used to play, just keeping it really simple,” Green said. “Over the last few years I’ve tinkered a bit more to find something, tried to force it a little bit, so it was nice to go back to Shield cricket for a game last year, just went back to what I used to do and it felt really good.

“I got a bit of clarity after that Shield game. It’s easy when you can go back to what felt good and what has worked well in the past. That’s basically all I really did.

“I’d normally like to be reasonably front on, bat on middle stump, just a really clear, simple game plan. Over the previous few tours or years, trying to get to off stump, trying to play a slightly more aggressive game early, rather than letting it happen. I think that’s the unfortunate thing but also the fortunate thing that I have been through it.”

Recalled opener Matt Renshaw took up position at first slip in training drills on Thursday morning, with Steve Smith at second and Green’s fellow all-rounder Beau Webster at third.

Green’s homework is also a result of his struggles to balance the competing demands of three formats, and a reminder that while he is currently batting in Travis Head’s former position at No.5, he does not have to bat like the freewheeling South Australian to succeed.

“Travis Head is an unbelievable cricketer, and he seems to be a guy who can hit shots from ball one,” Green said. “That’s never really been me, so it’s just going back to what feels right for me, what I’ve done my whole life, and it felt nice the other day.

“You try and write down notes because it’s a long time since we played a red-ball game, so I tried to write down a few notes from what worked in that Shield game.