The most likely Australian replacement for injured Green

Australian head coach Andrew McDonald has given an update on all-rounder Cam Green who has been under an injury cloud since the third ODI against South Africa last week.

Green will not play in the first Test against the Proteas in Durban later this week.

“He won't be available for the first Test match. He's progressing pretty well, all things considered, on the back of the injury that he had to his abdominal,” McDonald said.

But McDonald wouldn’t rule out the possibility of Green returning later in the series, though likely to only be as a batter.

“He’s still here for a reason. So, there is some light at the end of the tunnel. It'll just be a matter of going through the rehab. He's got a pretty demanding week this week as he reintroduces a few activities,” McDonald said.

“There's still optimism that he will take part in the series at some stage.”

The injury comes at an unfortunate time as Green looked to re-establish himself in the Australian middle order after breaking through for his third Test century against Bangladesh in August.

“We felt like that was it for Cam in terms of breaking through,” the coach added.

“Now he's got rehab to go through, but he's a quality player. It’s the flexibility of what he gives us in terms of with the ball that was something we were looking forward to.”

The focus will now turn to who comes in for Green with Nic Maddinson, Cooper Connolly and Michael Neser all touted for a potential call up.

McDonald remained coy about who the inclusion could be, with the pitch condition likely to determine the decision.

“I think it's specifically once we know what the conditions are going to be like and then how we stack up our batting order,” McDonald said.

“We know that we're going to be challenged through the middle order with spin. And look, who knows, as the game wears on, it might be the top order that's challenged by spin, in particular (Keshav) Maharaj.”

However, McDonald did specifically mention Maddinson who has been out of the Test team since 2016 and noted his ability to withstand the South African conditions.

“So, (if) Nic comes in, he can bat at the top, he can bat in the middle. We feel like he's got some good craft against spin and quality pace. He's been at this level before.”

South Africa will host Australia in the first Test of the highly-anticipated three-match series which begins October 9, 6:30pm (AEDT).

You can hear every ball live across the SEN network.