Player Profile
When it comes to T20 cricket, Chris Green has been there, seen it, done it and bought the t-shirt.
The one-time Australia international all-rounder has signed on with the Lightning to add valuable experience to their bid to win a second Vitality Blast title.
He is an off-spinner, a useful lower order batter and a superb fielder.
Green, 30, is the second Sydneysider to play for the county this summer after off-spinner Nathan Lyon. The pair are state team-mates with New South Wales, though have played on different sides of the Harbour City divide in the T20 Big Bash.
Lyon has played a lot of his cricket with Sydney Sixers, while Green has captained Sydney Thunder.
Of course, that means Green is coming from Thunder to Lightning.
Look down his career stats and it is clear this is a cricketer who has made his name in T20 cricket.
Born in South Africa, he debuted for NSW in List A cricket in late 2014 and then for the Thunder in early 2015. But he did not make his first-class debut for his state until late 2022.
A year later Green played his solitary T20I for Australia against India in Rajpur.
He has an impressive first-class record of 36 wickets and 563 runs in 12 matches, including a best of 6-83 with the ball, and he has a List A five-for to his name.
In T20 cricket, he arrives at Emirates Old Trafford with 200 career appearances to his name; 164 wickets with a best of 5-32 and one half-century.
Green is a skilful spin bowler, who, as Mark Chilton said upon announcing the signing, can “bowl spin across all phases of the game”.
He is definitely a gun for hire, a player with a whole host of clubs on the CV across 14 different countries, including the likes of India, Pakistan, the Caribbean and England.
He has spent a lot of time in England, be it in league or county cricket. He has played league cricket in Surrey and Essex and represented both county second teams as well as Middlesex.
Lancashire will represent Green’s third Blast team having played for Middlesex in 2021 and 2022, following on from playing for the Birmingham Bears in 2019. He claimed a hat-trick and took a five-for whilst with Middlesex.
While Green was born in South Africa, his father’s birth country, he holds a British passport given his mother is from Essex.
Both his parents were professional tennis players. His mother, Lisa, reached the second round at Wimbledon in 1987, while father Warren also played at Wimbledon and reached the third round of the doubles tournament that year.
It, therefore, will not surprise you to hear that Chris is also a talented tennis player but chose cricket as a junior.
He is a T20 title-winner and has captained almost 50 matches - both with Guyana Amazon Warriors and Sydney Thunder. He is the current captain of the latter.