Australia coach Tim Nielsen will make no decision on whether to play him in the first Ashes Test until viewing the Cardiff wicket.

Hauritz is the only specialist spinner in the 16 strong Australian party and he has returned combined figures of two for 260 from his two appearances against Sussex at Hove and England Lions at New Road.

But there signs of improvement during the second innings against the Lions when he finished with one for 22 from 12.2 overs as the game ended in a tame draw.

There has been speculation that the Aussies will rely on part-time spinners Marcus North, Michael Clarke and Simon Katich should the wicket take turn and play four spinners.

Nielsen can do it

But Nielsen hinted Hauritz could play a part given the number of left handers in the England side.

Nielsen said: "We won't know until we get to Cardiff what side to select and the conditions will be critical.

"But Nathan has got better and better as we have gone on and there is no point in taking 12 wickets in two games now and not being right for the Test.

"Yes, that would be nice from the confidence point of view but he is comfortable with how his game is progressing. I feel he has improved as the two games have gone on.

"He was below his best in the first innings at Hove and the wicket didn't offer a lot of spin or bounce at Worcester but at least he was able to get some rhythm.

"He changed his pace a lot more and was able to cause a few more issues out of the rough for their left handers.

"Remembering their Test squad usually has three left handers to finish their order off and two at the top, an off-spinner will be pretty handy in that regard."

Nielsen is expecting opener Phillip Hughes to work on his technique during the next few days after twice being dismissed by short pitched deliveries from Lions paceman Steve Harmison.

He said: "South Africa bowled like that to him through the series in the winter and he had great success. Steyn, Morkel and Ntini all went hard at him.

"You have to be pretty precise if you are going to bowl that length to him.

"We have seen how hard Phil hits the ball through point if the ball is not quite right. It is physically taxing for the bowler to be smashing the ball into the wicket all of the time.

"To do it for long periods, is hard work and, if you dont have a bit of luck, before you know it he could be on 40 and the pressure is off.

"They will have their plans to attack our guys. Harmy bowled very well and Phil got out twice. But he is averaging 60 in tests and we will turn up on Wednesday and play the real stuff.

"It was great experience for Phil because he probably hasn't faced that quality fast bowling, certainly not in the last month or two.

"It has given him a real chance to be aware of how England will attack him and he has two or three days to think about how he is going to cope with that and practice it."

Nielsen is happy with the progress Australia have made during the past few weeks before the Ashes gets under way after their early elimination from the ICC World Twenty20 competition.

He said: "I think the whole three weeks we have been here has been spot-on. We've been lucky to have had no rain. It has not interrupted preparation.

"We've been able to up the tempo the whole way through ahead of Wednesday. There was no point in us being at our absolute best a week and a half ago."