Massive blow for RCB? Star Australia all-rounder reveals he is suffering from irreversible chronic kidney disease

Australia's star all-rounder, Cameron Green, revealed on Thursday that he has been battling chronic kidney disease since birth. Green disclosed that the condition was detected during his mother, Bee Tracey's, 19-week pregnancy scan. Surprisingly, Green's father, Gary, who played a significant role in shaping his cricket career, shared that there were initial concerns about whether Cameron would survive beyond the age of 12.

Since last year, Green has been a part of Australia's squads across all formats, making his T20I debut in 2022. He was also a member of the ODI World Cup-winning squad last month in India. Currently, he is with the Australian Test team in the series against Pakistan, although he remains on the bench for the opening match in Perth.

"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.”

Green stated that he has successfully managed his chronic kidney disease throughout his career, with only one significant incident that raised concerns. This incident occurred during an ODI match against New Zealand in Cairns last year. Despite experiencing severe cramping while batting, Green displayed remarkable resilience and scored an unbeaten 89 runs. Prior to this, he had also bowled five overs in Australia's victorious performance. Reflecting on the incident, Green attributed the cramping to a potential lack of adequate liquid supplements, although the root cause was primarily associated with his kidney condition.

"I think it was pretty well documented that I had a pretty long day of bowling and a pretty long bat as well, and then had a cramping episode," Green said. "It took me a long time to realise that it was probably my kidney function that was affecting my cramping.

“I always thought I didn't drink enough, didn't eat enough, didn't look after myself during the game as well as I could have, but I think over time I realised that I was doing absolutely everything right, but I was still cramping, unfortunately.”

With the exception of the episode against New Zealand, Green has enjoyed a fairly impressive career thus far, having also made appearances in the Big Bash League and the Indian Premier League. In his inaugural season in the IPL, Green proudly donned the Mumbai Indians jersey, and subsequently made a move to the Royal Challengers Bangalore prior to the 2024 edition.

"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,” stated Green.

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