A frontline spinner of the Australian team, Nathan Hauritz said, he doesn’t see himself as the first choice Aussie spinner yet.

By Firdose Moonda

Unlike many of the other teams in this tournament, Australia appear to be searching for very little. South Africa were desperate for their first win in an ICC event in eleven years. They didn't get it. The West Indies were scavenging for a way to prove to the world they were more than just a mish-mash group of players bundled together. They only further cemented that belief. India were searching for a way to validate their position that hovers around the number one spot in one-day international cricket. They couldn't.

All Australia have really had to search for in recent times is a spinner good enough to replace Shane Warne. While they're not issuing declarations of having found one just yet, they are offering subtle signals to suggest that may be they have a frontline spinner who could establish himself as a regular in Nathan Hauritz. 

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The twenty-seven year old knows he has giant sized shoes to fill and is trying to take it one match at a time.

"It's fantastic to be picked consistently and to do my job when I'm asked," he said at a press conference in Centurion.

Hauritz doesn't see himself as the first choice spinner yet, despite being the only specialist slow bowler to have finished last season with a Cricket Australia contract.

"Whether you are ever Australia's number one spinner is another thing. There is still a lot of emphasis on fast bowling and they (the administrators) are still trying to breed spinners coming through," he said.

What Hauritz did acknowledge was that he sees a greater role for a spinner in the Australian team and that the management has recognised this. 

"It is rewarding to be picked on some of the non turning wickets in the one-day matches as well," he said.

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For Hauritz things are changing, again, for spinners in Australian cricket, right down at state level. He said that a few seasons ago, "spinners didn't even come into contention because the wickets were so good" but now the board is making a concerted effort to "develop spinners at state level."

He also said he would like to see "drier wickets in Australia" to aid in the progression of spin bowlers.

The tournament has been a showcase for spinners, from Ajantha Mendis who made the South Africans look like schoolboys to Saeed Ajmal, who had India in a spin. But Hauritz doesn't think the turn factor will be important in the semi-final match against England.

"I don't think there's much difference between the two teams and I don't think there will be much talk of spin on the wicket."

That's despite the SuperSport Park pitch being described by the South Africans as sub continental.

Hauritz thinks Graeme Swann and himself cancel each other out because they are "a bit the same," and also doesn't think Australia go into the match with any advantage. He believes both sides have an equal share of bowlers who can bat, saying, both sides have realised that "gone are the days when players can just be bowlers."

Hauritz was hard pressed to find a favourite for the first semi-final, suggesting a closely contested game since the two sides "have been able to gauge each other and we know each other's strengths and weaknesses."

All he would give away was that England "has the momentum. They won the last game (between us) so it will probably go with them."

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