It is easy to think of Cameron Green as the baby of Australia's team. In relative terms he is, given he is the only squad member under 30 and a full four years younger than the second youngest player in "Dad's Army".
But he's no longer a baby in professional cricket. He's 26, a full five years into his Test career, and eight-and-a-half years into his first-class career.
Eighteen months ago, Steven Smith volunteered to open the batting to settle Green at No.4 after David Warner's retirement and he delivered with what appeared to be a career-shaping 174 not out in Wellington to win a Test for Australia. He has batted at No.4 only twice since.
In June, Pat Cummins declared that Green could be Australia's long-term No.3 after returning from injury as a specialist batter for the WTC final. It appeared to be a poisoned chalice, having batted there once prior in first-class cricket.
After two tough Tests on two tough pitches, he was arguably Australia's best batter in their most recent Tests in Grenada and Jamaica with match-defining scores of 26, 52, 46 and 42 in two more low-scoring Tests.
But three days out from Australia's next Test, the first against England at home in the most anticipated Ashes in his lifetime, Green does not know where he will bat despite being the unwitting kingmaker in Australia's XI, given he is finally available to bowl again.
"No, not yet. I think the people in charge met last night," Green said on Tuesday. "I'll probably get told later today. Whichever way they go, I think we've got a really great squad, a lot of great combinations to go with. So I'm pretty easy either way."
It appears highly likely that Green will be sent back to No.6, with Marnus Labuschagne reinstated at No.3 and Jake Weatherald making his Test debut as Usman Khawaja's seventh opening partner in Australia's last 16 Tests.
Green was asked how he felt about bouncing around the order and where he might settle long-term.
"I think I'm just so grateful that they see me as someone who could do all those positions," Green said. "I've moved around quite a bit in the Test team especially. But I think it's probably how good the coaching staff is that they make you feel really secure, regardless of where you're playing, and regardless if you get moved around.
"I'm very fortunate that they think that way about me, but happy to bat anywhere."
While Green is secure, Beau Webster is not. That Webster could be squeezed out of the XI, having done very little wrong in the No.6 role as the allrounder across his seven Tests to date will not sit well at all with Australian fans.
Green is saddled with the burden of being the golden boy, for whom all must be accommodated. That is making him unpopular with home fans, much in the same way Shane Watson was during his career.
There are eerie similarities. Highly gifted, with incredible physical attributes and a stunning Sheffield Shield record from a young age. But neither have quite lived up to the expectation to date, in part because of injury interruptions, in part because it's been a struggle to find the best way to deploy their talents.
But the similarities end when you dig into their records. Watson after 32 Tests was averaging 38.12 with the bat with two centuries, having hit a career high watermark of 42.11 during the 2010-11 Ashes when he was in the middle of his successful run as a Test opener. He also averaged a career low of 28.01 with the ball with three five-wicket hauls.
Green also has two centuries but averages 34.02 with the bat and 35.31 with the ball. Webster's numbers of 34.63 and 23.25 only enrage those Green skeptics further. Green hasn't helped himself. His Test batting record overseas, when most Australia fans are asleep, is better than both Travis Head and Labuschagne. But his record at home, when most casual Australian fans watch, is poor. He has also hardly played. This week will be just his second Test on his home ground at Perth Stadium, and he didn't get a bat in his first.
But Green and Webster are apples and oranges. No active Australian player averages more than Green's 52.47 in Sheffield Shield cricket (20 innings minimum), including Smith. Last week, Webster nibbled eight South Australian batters out on a green seamer in Hobart but missed out with the bat in both innings, while Green sent down 16 overs of 140kph thunderbolts on a good pitch in Perth without any signs of issues with his surgically repaired back. He also crunched 94 against a Queensland attack that had five bowlers with international wickets to their name.
Green's ceiling as a player is something even the 200cm Webster could never reach. But it is time he raised his floor in Test cricket. Green is both a victim and a beneficiary of insane expectations, just as Watson was. There is an argument too that he hasn't been set up for long-term success by the selectors through a variety of different circumstances.
But he is pivotal to Australia's success, both in the immediate term but also with the looming transition, not just as an allrounder, but as the best batter under the age of 30 in Australia.
Green's prospective move back to No.6 presents an opportunity. It is a spot he has previously said he hasn't enjoyed due to the long waits, having had all his first-class success at Nos. 4 and 5.
But like Smith's move to the top and then back to No.4, Green's time at Nos. 3-4 provides perspective of how much easier batting can be further down the order. It is understood the team hierarchy would like him to bring the same intent he has shown recently in T20I and ODI cricket to his Test batting. Green believes he can learn from his previous life at No.6.
"Certainly," Green said. "I think that's the beauty of a bit of experience. I think [the coaches] have gone through that, seeing what worked, what didn't, and if there's a different way that they might want me to approach the game."
While Watson regressed in the latter stages of his Test career to finish with respectable averages of 35.19 and 33.68. Ben Stokes, England's talisman and captain, is feted despite a career record that is only marginally better at 35.69 and 31.64.
Green is about to hit his peak years as a cricketer. This Ashes looms as a key launching pad if he is to somehow meet the lofty expectations.