Star all-rounder Cameron Green is considering back surgery that would see him miss Australia’s five-Test series against India this summer.

If Green does decide to have surgery, Australia’s selectors would have to find a new batter to slot into the Test top six as they ponder a possible rejig to the batting line-up.

A formal announcement on Green’s decision is expected on Friday or Saturday.

The eagerly anticipated series against India begins in late November with the five Tests played crammed into six weeks.

Green had originally hoped to play in the first or second test purely as a batter, but a decision to go under the knife would rule him out for months.

The alternative to surgery was a rehabilitation program that may have allowed Green to play earlier this summer, but that ran the risk of a recurrence of the injury.

Green, who has a history of stress fractures, complained of back pain during Australia’s one-day tour of England in September and was immediately sent home.

The 25-year-old has emerged as a crucial member of Australia’s Test side, cementing himself as the number four batter with a magnificent 174 not out against New Zealand in Wellington earlier this year.

He now has a batting average of 48.57 in his 28 tests to go with his 35 wickets.

While Australia’s T20 captain Mitch Marsh can expect to pick up some of the slack in Australia’s bowling attack, the absence of Green will cause a reshuffle in the batting line-up.

The biggest headache is at the top of the order where Steve Smith has underwhelmed since taking over as opener after David Warner retired.

Including his 91 not out against the West Indies, Smith has scored just 171 runs in four matches as an opener at an average of 28.5.

There is speculation Smith will return to number four in the batting line-up.

That would open a hole at the top which could be filled by a specialist opener or a rejig of the order, which could see the likes of Travis Head or Mitch Marsh opening alongside Usman Khawaja.

However, neither Head nor Marsh opened in the first round of Sheffield Shield matches currently being played.

The prospect of a new batter at the top of the order reopens a debate that raged at the beginning of last summer as David Warner completed his farewell tour in the three-Test series against Pakistan.

Smith’s eagerness to move up the order allowed the selectors to bring Cam Green back into the side at number four.

But with Green now out and Smith likely to move back down, the same names that were debated last summer are once again auditioning.

Victoria’s Marcus Harris pushed his case to add to his 14 tests scoring a pacy 143 in the side’s first innings of the Shield match against Tasmania being played at Melbourne’s Junction Oval.

Two other former test players, Western Australia’s Cameron Bancroft (0) and Queensland’s Matthew Renshaw (6) both failed in the first innings of the current match between the two states in Perth.

The ‘smokey’ could be 19-year-old NSW wunderkind, Sam Konstas.

Konstas scored a brilliant 152 against South Australia in Sydney and followed it up with another century in the second innings in just his fourth Sheffield Shield match.

With chair of selectors George Bailey watching on, Konstas could not have picked a better time to score a century in each innings, adding to the 100 he scored against the West Indies at the Under-19 World Cup earlier this year.

If Konstas can keep this up, his case may be too compelling to overlook despite his tender years.

As it is, Konstas, Harris, Bancroft and Renshaw have more chances to push their cases. 

There are another three Sheffield Shield matches and two Australia A Games scheduled before the first test begins on November 22.

Green’s absence would also be a concern for Australia’s bowling attack against India’s strong batting line-up.

He could be counted on for handy overs to spell Australia’s trio of dynamic quicks: Pat Cummins, Josh Hazelwood and Mitchell Starc.

While Marsh can expect to pick up some of the slack in Australia’s bowling attack, his lack of bowling recently is a concern.

Marsh was not bowled in the first innings of the Shield match against Queensland.

The other possibility open to selectors is to install another all-rounder, such as last season’s Sheffield Shield player of the year, Tasmania’s Beau Webster.

Webster has begun this season as he ended the last, scoring 113 for Tasmania against Victoria and taking a wicket.