Ponting Supports Doherty for Test Debut
Australian captain, Ricky Ponting, has firmly supported newcomer Xavier Doherty, today. The twenty-eight-year old, Tasmanian, left-arm spinner has impressed Ponting, who believes he has the guile and variation to irritate the English test side, especially the out-of-form, Kevin Pietersen. Xavier Doherty is expected to make his first test appearance in the Ashes Series, starting this Thursday. Doherty was incorporated into the side, after Nathan Hauritz was dismissed due to poor performance. However, his inclusion into the test side has been condemned by both the Australian media and former Australian cricketers as well. Leg-spin phenomenon, Shane Warne revealed his dislike for axing Hauritz, claiming he had an impressive record in home Tests and was the rightful candidate to clash against the English Side.
Nonetheless, Ricky Ponting was adamant on his decision, stressing on the fact that Doherty had consistently awed him and alleged Hauritz had lost his effectiveness. He cited, "Seeing him (Xavier Doherty) up close and personal for those couple of games (Sheffield Shield) probably gave me a bit more of an idea of how good he was because I haven't played much with him in the last few years."
The Tasmanian spinner made his first ODI emergence against Sri Lanka earlier this month. His game was extremely impressive as he grabbed four wickets for forty-six runs. This performance has been highly acknowledged by Ponting and he believes Doherty will trouble the English side. In addition to this, Australian selectors also alleged that left-arm spinners were more lethal than the regular spinner. This has been proven by the fact that Kevin Pietersen has been dismissed 17 times in his past 54 test innings, by left-arm spin bowlers. Nonetheless, Graeme Swann feels that Peitersen can bulldoze any conventional left-arm spin bowling attack.
He stated, “It's not a concern for us because we've seen Kev (Pietersen) destroy left-arm spinners.”"Any batsman can get out to any bowler any time. I know it doesn't worry Kevin and it doesn't worry the rest of us."
The 13-man Australian Squad is as follows: Ricky Ponting (captain), Michael Clarke (vice-captain), Doug Bollinger, Xavier Doherty, Brad Haddin, Mike Hussey, Ben Hilfenhaus, Mitchell Johnson, Simon Katich, Marcus North, Peter Siddle, Steven Smith, Shane Watson
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