Nathan Hauritz has been left out of Australia’s squad for the first Test against England, with selectors preferring two untried spinners while sticking with an experienced batting line-up.
Hauritz was not named in the squad trimmed from 17 to 13 players. Instead off-spinner Xavier Doherty and leg-spinner Steven Smith - both uncapped - were included. Doherty was expected to be preferred.
The selectors, under chairman Andrew Hilditch, named the two spinners along with four fast bowlers in the reduced squad for the Test at Brisbane, which starts on November 25.
“The national selection panel believes the left-arm orthodox variety Xavier Doherty provides against a predominantly right-handed English middle-order is the better option in this game,” Hilditch said.
Hauritz, who last week told Australian media he is a better bowler than Doherty, had his last chance to impress the selectors in the Sheffield Shield match between New South Wales and Tasmania, which ended on Friday.
However the game was played on a pitch, which favoured pacemen so he bowled only one over in the match while making scores of 6 and 0. Doherty took 2-45 from 21 overs in New South Wales’ second innings, claiming the wicket of Simon Katich, and made 20 not out from 14 balls in Tasmania’s first innings.
The 28-year-old finger spinner made his limited-overs debut for Australia in its recent series against Sri Lanka and has 84 wickets in first-class cricket at an average of 48.
Smith seized his chance with a solid performance with bat and ball in the current match between Australia A and England, the tourists’ last Test warm-up. He scored 59 in Australia A’s first innings of 230 and took two wickets from 27 overs as England compiled 523 in reply.
The selectors have stuck with a batting line-up, which has been in mediocre form. Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke, Katich, Shane Watson, Marcus North and Mike Hussey have all been retained.
Hussey may have saved his place with a timely innings of 118 for Western Australia against Victoria on Saturday. But the incumbent line-up was also saved when youngsters Callum Ferguson and Usman Khawaja, who were both included in the expanded squad, failed to press their selection claims while playing for Australia A.
Khawaja had scores of 13 and 0 and Ferguson 7 and 10, leaving the selectors with little motivation for change. “Callum Ferguson, Usman Khawaja and (fast bowler) Ryan Harris are the three (of the initial 17-man squad) to miss out of the final squad,” Hilditch said.
“Callum and Usman are both wonderful young players who we believe will play a big role for Australian cricket moving forward but on this occasion the experienced middle-order has been preferred.
“We felt Ryan Harris needed further time to recover from his knee injury and also believe the four fast bowlers we have selected are in good form and will be key weapons for us winning the Ashes series.”
The selectors have also stuck with their established pace line-up of Mitchell Johnson, Ben Hilfenhaus, Peter Siddle and Doug Bollinger.
