Australia's full-time selector Greg Chappell has given Nathan Hauritz some encouragement, declaring that he would not favour an all-pace attack for the first Ashes Test in Brisbane. The Gabba traditionally offers significant assistance for seamers and in a recent Sheffield Shield match, Hauritz bowled only two overs for New South Wales as the fast men accounted for all but one wicket in the game.
However, Hauritz enjoyed bowling at the venue during last year's Test against West Indies, when he collected match figures of 5 for 57. The season before, Australia chose a four-man pace attack, including Shane Watson, and called on only a handful of overs from Andrew Symonds and Michael Clarke in a comfortable win over New Zealand.
Hauritz's struggles in the ongoing Sheffield Shield match at the SCG won't help his chances of playing at the Gabba, especially with Peter Siddle and an in-form Ryan Harris pushing their cases after long injury lay-offs. But Chappell, who is the newest member of the selection panel, said a pace-only attack would be a big gamble against an England side that will certainly feature the offspinner Graeme Swann.
"That will obviously be part of the conversation when we meet," Chappell told the radio station SEN. "Four quicks - I'm not convinced that four is better than three. We'll certainly talk about it. It's hard to go in to a Test match without a recognised spinner, I don't care what the conditions are like. You need balance in any conditions.
"We know the West Indies tended to do well with four quicks for many years, but more times than not I've seen it backfire. Someone gets underbowled or you give someone a bowl just because they're there, when maybe they weren't the best choice. I think if we've got three good quicks and Shane Watson and a spinner, we'll be in better shape. That's my personal opinion."
Australia will announce their squad for the first Test on Monday and they might include both Hauritz and the legspinning allrounder Steven Smith, to leave themselves plenty of options. However, Test cricket's leading wicket taker, Muttiah Muralitharan, who played against Smith in the recent ODI series, believes Hauritz is the man to carry Australia's spin burden during the Ashes.
"Smith does not have much control and he must learn more about bowling spin before he plays Test cricket again," Muralitharan said. "There are many things he must learn. He is not good for Test cricket at the moment.
"I don't think Smith would do any better than Hauritz. I know Hauritz did not bowl well in India but lots of spinners have struggled there against Indian batsmen, who play spin very well. Hauritz should play in the Ashes."
No comments:
Post a Comment