Sydney: Australia have suffered a major blow ahead of their crucial Test series against India, with news that star all-rounder Cameron Green will undergo surgery on his injured back and be sidelined for up to six months.
Green hurt his back during Australia's white-ball tour of the United Kingdom last month and subsequent scans found a stress fracture in the affected area.
Cricket Australia released a brief statement indicating Green had a "unique defect in an adjacent area to the fracture that is believed to be contributing to the injury", with the 25-year-old to undergo surgery in an attempt to stabilise the injury and reduce the risk of future recurrence.
It means Green will miss the five-match series against India that will be crucial to Australia's ICC World Test Championship defence, while he is unlikely to recover in time for the Test tour to Sri Lanka and ICC Champions Trophy event in February next year.
The loss of Green could see Smith return to his preferred position at second drop, while Australia may need to find another bowling option for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series in the absence of their young all-rounder.
Australia selection chair George Bailey later confirmed that Smith would not open during the Border-Gavaskar series, meaning the reigning World Test Championship winners will need to find a new opener to partner Usman Khawaja at the top of their order against India.
"(Captain) Pat (Cummins), (coach) Andrew (McDonald) and Steve Smith had been having ongoing conversations, separate to the untimely injury to Cameron (Green)," Bailey said on Monday.
"Steve had expressed a desire to move back down from that opening position, and Pat and Andrew have confirmed that he will be dropping back down the order for the summer," he added.
