Green was ruled out of the England tour due to a back injury

All-rounder returns home to begin recovery ahead of Border-Gavaskar Test series after scans revealed back injury

Australia are hopeful Cameron Green will be fit for their blockbuster home Test summer against India after the all-rounder was ruled out of the ongoing ODI tour of England with a back injury.

Green reported back pain after the 46-run loss in Durham and was left out of the XI for the fourth ODI at Lord's overnight after scans in London revealed the injury.

A spokesperson for the Australian men's team said the extent of the injury and a timeline for his return will not be known until the 25-year-old returns home to Perth for further assessment.

Green was Australia's best bowler in the third ODI on Tuesday with 2-45 and also scored 42 with the bat as the reigning world champions lost their first one-day international in their past 15 matches.

The all-rounder was left out of the second ODI at Headingley to manage his workload after bowling in the previous six matches of their UK tour, including being the team's equal wicket-taker during their 3-0 T20 sweep through Scotland.

With the start of the home Test summer still eight weeks away, Australia will undoubtedly take a cautious approach with their star all-rounder whose early domestic career was brought to a halt by a succession of back stress fractures.

Green could also play as a specialist batsman, but any extended absence due to injury would add to the intrigue of who should partner Usman Khawaja for the Border-Gavaskar Test series opener in Perth, starting on November 22.

Steve Smith moved up following the retirement of David Warner last summer, allowing Green to return at number 4.

But Khawaja is in favor of Smith returning for the second defeat against India and has suggested Travis Head could be better suited to guide him at the top of the order.

Head ruled out any talk of him opening up for the Test side after his 154 not out in the Nottingham ODI series opener last week, encouraging the media to “keep the chatter (because it) makes it interesting.”

Head, who has previously ruled himself out by saying that opening is a specialist's job, further added: “I'm not going to dive into that. I'm just going to let that happen.”

If further assessment once home in Perth reveals that Green has suffered a more serious injury, Smith, who says he is keen to bat anywhere, could return to his previous batting position and Head remain in his preferred number 5 spot.

That would then open the door again for specialist openers Cameron Bancroft, Marcus Harris and Matthew Renshaw to earn a recall.

Green is the fifth Australian to be ruled out of the ongoing British white-ball tour following injuries to Nathan Ellis, Xavier Bartlett, Riley Meredith and Ben Dwarshuis.

Qantas Tour of Great Britain 2024

Watch all the action from Australia's white-ball tour of Britain live and exclusively on Foxtel and Kayo Sports. Click here to subscribe.

Australia T20 squad: Mitchell Marsh (c), Sean Abbott, Xavier Bartlett, Cooper Connolly, Tim David, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Cameron Green, Aaron Hardie, Josh Hazlewood (England matches only), Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Riley Meredith, Matt Short ( England games only), Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa

September 4: Australia defeated Scotland by seven wickets

September 6: Australia defeated Scotland by 70 points

September 7: Australia defeated Scotland by six wickets

September 11: Australia defeated England by 28 runs

September 13: England defeated Australia by three wickets

September 15: Leave the match

Australia ODI squad: Mitch Marsh (c), Sean Abbott, Alex Carey, Cooper Connolly, Ben Dwarshuis, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Cameron Green, Aaron Hardie, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Matthew Short, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa. Book: Mahli Beardman

September 19: Australia defeated England by seven wickets

September 21: Australia defeated England by 68 runs

September 24: England defeated Australia by 46 runs (DLS method)

September 27: England defeated Australia by 186 runs

September 29: Fifth ODI vs England, County Ground, Bristol, 8pm AEST