His sixth, which shaped to swing into Khawaja then zipped away off the seam to beat the outside edge, was rather more representative of what was to follow. This was tough Test cricket, in which Green acquitted himself best of all after a couple of quiet Test matches against the West Indies.

In Brisbane, he had been somewhat unfortunate to be bowled off his arm by the effervescent Shamar Joseph at the start of the collapse that delivered one of the game’s most memorable finishes.

A return to Western Australia’s Sheffield Shield team, for a century against Tasmania at Bellerive Oval, did more than acclimatise Green to a picturesque southern Test venue with a prominent grass bank for spectators. It got him into rhythm.

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That sense of balanced ease at the crease, so often seen from Green in Shield ranks and occasionally during his 26 Tests to date, had been somewhat lost during a hectic 2023 when he played in India, then the IPL, then the England tour, and then ran drinks for most of the World Cup.

It was a sequence that brought some bizarre opprobrium from Western Australia when Green was effectively recalled ahead of Cameron Bancroft after David Warner’s retirement, but there was no doubting the selectors’ belief.

The panel’s chair George Bailey had noted that Green’s progress would not always be linear, but that he had already done more than enough to assure the national team’s planners that he was the best young batter available by a wide margin.

“His domestic record is superior to anyone who has played over the last little period, albeit that he hasn’t had the opportunity that much,” Bailey had said. “[We’re] really confident that just [by] continuing to expose him he’ll get better and better, learn more about his game. But, like any player, I don’t think it’s going to be a straight line. [I] think there’ll be fluctuations throughout as there always is.”

Walking to the middle of the Basin shortly after lunch, Green was more decisive than Marnus Labuschagne and Travis Head, both out cheaply either side of him. He was also more positive in scoring intent than Smith or Khawaja, who were resolved to survive until conditions got easier – though they never quite did.

From a wobbly 4-89, a series of handy stands with Mitchell Marsh, Mitchell Starc, Cummins and Nathan Lyon took Green into the 90s. In the day’s last over, he slogged, slapped and cut Will O’Rourke for a trio of boundaries to reach three figures in commanding fashion.

When he got there, Green mimed an uppercut and let out a yelp of delight before raising his bat to Smith and company. A year ago, Green’s first century against India in Ahmedabad was a case of beating the opposition and his own nervousness rather than the conditions.

This one, on a day when no-one else passed 50, was concrete evidence that Green can own the vital number four position for the next decade.

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