Over a year ago in England, generational all-rounder Cameron Green found himself in and out of the Australian Test side.

Mitch Marsh’s form meant the balance of Australia’s side was out of whack if Green featured and for the last Ashes Test, he was dropped for Todd Murphy.

He didn’t play the next Pakistan series but was then included for the West Indies, with Steve Smith moving up to open after David Warner’s retirement.

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Green’s 174 not out the following month against New Zealand was his big statement and meant there was scope again for Marsh and Green to play in the same side.

To consider Green’s importance to the side, of his 28 Test matches played, only four of those have been lost with six drawn and 18 won.

But now he’s out for the summer with a back injury and it appears the man who couldn’t find a spot in the team a year ago is now the one we miss the most.

A lingering injury for Mitch Marsh means Beau Webster is next cab off the rank.

Webster has more than earned his spot through the Sheffield Shield but if Green were to be available, the scope for a specialist batter could have presented more options for selectors, particularly with Josh Inglis in the squad.

With Green in the team, the bouncer barrage from Marnus Labuschagne in the second innings wouldn’t have been needed. It was hard to watch, to say the least.

Marsh’s fitness copped a battering due to Australia’s poor showing with the bat in the first innings.

His 12 overs in the second innings were expensive and the fact Webster has been parachuted in the squad suggests the Aussies are in need of overs if Marsh is out. Whether the injury impacts Marsh’s ability to bat remains to be seen.

Could Marsh move up the order as a specialist batter considering the troubles of the top order?

Former Aussie opener Ed Cowan even suggested on The Grandstand Cricket Podcast there’d be more confidence in having Marsh walk out to bat than Marnus Labuschagne at the moment.

“Would you rather Mitch Marsh walking out to bat or Marnus walking out to bat currently? … Mine would be Mitch Marsh,” he said.

“There’s a world where Marnus falls out of the team, Mitch Marsh plays as a batter and you get someone like a Beau Webster.”

You put Green in this team though, and the batting order remains relatively settled.

Travis Head and Marsh stay in their spots, Green at four and Smith makes a slight change to No.3.

How that would fare is up to the imagination though, and that’s the magic of the hypothetical.