Image Credit- ICC
All-rounder Cameron Green of Australia has disclosed
that he was born with chronic kidney disease and had a 12-year life expectancy
at one point. Despite this, he has managed to cope with the condition
throughout his professional cricket career.
Green, 24, was replaced as the starting all-rounder in
the side during the Ashes series in England earlier this year by Mitchell
Marsh, hence he was left out of Australia’s XI for the first Test of the summer
against Pakistan in Perth.
However, Green—who is naturally extremely quiet and
reserved—told Channel 7 that he has lived with the illness his whole life and
has hardly ever disclosed it to friends or teammates.
“My parents got told when I was born that I had
chronic kidney disease,” Green told Channel 7. “Basically, there’s no
symptoms, it was just picked up through ultrasounds.
“Chronic kidney disease is basically a
progressive disease of your kidney’s health function. Unfortunately, mine
doesn’t filter the blood as well as other kidneys. They’re at about 60% at the
moment which is stage two.
“I consider myself very lucky that I’m not as
affected physically by chronic kidney disease as other people who are affected
by the same thing.
“With chronic kidney disease there’s five stages,
with stage one being the least severe, and stage five being transplant or
dialysis. Fortunately, I’m stage two, but if you don’t look after them enough,
it goes back down.
“Kidneys can’t get better. It’s irreversible. So
anything you can do to slow the progression, you basically try and do.”
When Green’s mother Bee Tracey had a 19-week pregnancy
scan, the condition was discovered. There were early concerns that Green might
not live past the age of twelve, according to his father Gary, who has had a
significant impact on his cricket career.
According to Green, he has handled the problem
admirably thus far in his career and has only experienced one alarming incident
when representing Australia in an ODI against New Zealand in Cairns last year.
He bowled five overs and fielded the entire fifty, making 89 not out in a
successful chase of runs, but while batting he suffered from excruciating
cramps.
Green said it took him awhile to reveal it to his
team-mates, who had wondered about his capacity to handle the all-round
workload.
“I have told a few guys in the cricket world. The
coaching staff are all over it,” Green said. “I think all the guys in
the Aussie cricket team, I’ve told. After a few cramping episodes, I probably
had to come off and tell them that it’s probably more than not being
professional enough because I knew in the background I was eating and drinking
as much as I could to give myself the best chance.”