Who will bat No.6 for Australia? Cameron Green, Mitchell Marsh locked in battle ahead of Pakistan Test series

Australia will begin their home summer in the coming weeks, with five Test matches across two series with Pakistan and West Indies headlining the cricket schedule. 

After retaining the urn against England and claiming their first World Test Championship, as well as an unlikely ODI World Cup victory, the side will return home with plenty of confidence across December and January. 

David Warner is expected to bow out of the Test arena on his home turf in Sydney, while veteran off-spinner Nathan Lyon should be back on deck after a calf injury ruined his Ashes campaign. 

But the one spot in the Test lineup that will create plenty of conjecture is the No.6 all-rounder role, with both Cameron Green and Mitchell Marsh locked in a tight battle to wear the Baggy Green.

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Who will bat No.6 for Australia against Pakistan?

After coming into the side for the third Test against England earlier this year, Marsh scored a brilliant century and held onto his spot for the remainder of the series, pushing his younger counterpart to drinks-carrying duties. 

At this stage, there is no clear indication which way the selectors will go ahead of the first Test on December 14th, but a hint from Andrew McDonald could indicate the more experienced player may be the front-runner. 

Speaking on SEN Radio, the head coach was quizzed on whether or not Green would bat in the middle-order for Australia, but claimed it could be a matter of the 24-year-old being forced to bide his time. 

“What does Cam Green’s future look like in the Test team? Is it a matter of waiting for Mitch to finish or could there be another spot that opens up over time?” McDonald said. 

“He has batted at six for most of his Test cricket, but he has been a fantastic No.4 for WA and averages close to 50 in Shield cricket.

“There is always the idea that you can potentially shift the order to make room to put your best six batters, or what you see as best six batters, in a certain order, and we have seen that in Australian cricket before.

“David Boon went from three to opening, Justin Langer went from three to opening, Shane Watson went from six to opening. There has been the ability to reshuffle and for that to be successful... but we will leave that to the first Test."

While there is still plenty of long-term optimism surrounding Green, his future may come higher up the order, with the opportunity likely to present itself once the likes of Warner and Usman Khawaja step away from the Test arena. 

The other option that has been floated is moving Marnus Labuschagne to the opening slot in order to fit both Green and Marsh into the side - but according to former skipper Ricky Ponting, that should be put on the back-burner. 

“There’s been some talk about Marnus potentially going up and opening... I actually don't believe in that, I think Cameron Green might just have to sit back and bide his time and wait for the opportunity," he told SEN Radio. 

“He can get a truckload of runs in Shield cricket and sort of force his way back into the side.

“Labuschagne has been outstanding at number three for Australia, it's very much a specialist position. If they moved him up, they'd probably have to move Smith up to three and he's always been that sort of that number four batsman.

“It always sounds great in theory, to get one of the most talked about and talented young all-rounders back into the side as soon as possible, but it could create some potential issues along the way as well.

"I would leave the batting order where it is and pick one of the specialist openers and give them a crack.”

For now, Australia have surplus to their requirements and it leaves the selection panel with a tough decision to make ahead of the Perth, Melbourne and Sydney fixtures. 

Mitchell Marsh vs Cameron Green Test career stats