Cricket News: Nathan Hauritz gets http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 coach Tim Nielsen’s backing
The beleaguered Australian off-spinner Nathan Hauritz has got the backing of his team manager Tim Nielsen after a bitterly disappointing tour of India where the spinner toiled hard without any luck against
the most powerful batting line-up in the world.
He was hit at almost four runs per over in the second Test that was comprehensively won by the hosts at Bangalore.
In the first Test match of the series at Mohali, the hosts were pleading for some help from Hauritz as they aimed at separating http://www.senore.com/Cricket/VVS-Laxman-c2772, yet the spinner failed big time.
The hosts sneaked home by one wicket in one of the most dramatic comebacks in Test cricket in recent years.
He was even poorer in the second Test, and was rendered ineffective by batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar, who stroked a masterful double hundred in the first innings and an unbeaten half century in the second.
The woeful performance by Hauritz, who claimed six wickets at an expensive rate of 65 runs per wickets, brought back memories of the disappointment of the 2004 tour of India where he looked equally ineffective.
However, Nielsen believes that his performance on this tour was better than his earlier stints in India.
"His performance is better in Test cricket than what he has done here in India," Nielsen told reporters in Margao, the venue of the third and final ODI on Sunday. "We have talked quite a bit since the end
of the second Test. (He's) started getting used to the conditions. He hasn't got the assistance here he gets in Australia, probably because of the slowness of the wickets and the lack of bounce.
"The Indian spinners put a lot of top spin on the ball to try and get the ball to bounce. In Australia the wickets are harder and we probably concentrate more on sidespin. It's a big difference when you play
in these conditions, something Nathan has to do to get adjusted to the playing conditions here."
Hauritz had a ball during his team’s home Test series against Pakistan in 2009-10.
The off-spinner claimed as many as 18 wickets in the three-match series that the hosts won 3-0.
Although there is a stark difference between the class of the Indian and Pakistani batsmen, Nielsen feels that the performance cannot be ignored.
The manager also feels that Hauritz needs to be given a run in the Ashes series that is set to start at Gabba in Brisbane next month.
Nielsen added that the experience in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 is going to make him a better bowler in conditions that he is more used to. "It was a massive learning curve for him. He's a better bowler as a result of it," Nielsen
said. "He's got two-three Sheffield Shield matches and that should help him prepare well for the first Test."
Hauritz would be competing with leg-spinner Steven Smith for a place in the Ashes starting eleven, and it seems that Nielsen is willing to back up his off-spinner more than the all-rounder Smith, who impressed
in the two-match Test series against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 that was held in England this summer.
It is an open secret that Hauritz’s lack of form is a major concern for the Aussies ahead of their greatest test battle against England.
After the days of Shane Warne, the former Test champions have struggled to fill the void created by the absence of one of the greats of the game.
In such a scenario, Hauritz would have to pull his weight and prove to his detractors that he has it in him to serve his country at the international stage for some years yet.
Tags: