Swann surprised at Nathan Hauritz's omission from Ashes squad
England’s premier spin bowler Graeme Swann has said that the absence of Nathan Hauritz in the 2010-11 Ashes series has helped England a great deal. Hauritz has performed quite well over the last few years, and especially in the last Ashes series, when he
troubled almost all the English batsmen.
Australia decided to leave Hauritz out, as left-arm spinner Xavier Doherty was given the preference in the first two Test matches of the series. After a disappointing performance by Doherty, the Australian selectors went for the inexperienced Michael Beer
and neglected Hauritz once again. According to Swann, the axing of Nathan Hauritz in the first Ashes Test at the Gabba was like playing into England’s hands, but his continued absence throughout the series is hard to understand.
Hauritz has performed quite well in Sheffield Shield cricket after his exclusion from the squad for the first Test. Apart from taking 19 wickets, Hauritz has also scored a couple of first-class hundreds for http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-South-Wales-c823 in the current season, but failed
to get the attention of the Australian selectors. Swann said, "I don't know why he (Hauritz) was dropped in the first place and why he's not been brought back in."
Hauritz has played 17 Test matches for Australia so far in which he has taken 63 wickets at an average of 34.98 and has two 5-wicket hauls. Apart from his off-spin bowling, Hauritz is also pretty handy when it comes to batting. He averages more than 25 runs
per innings in Test cricket including a couple of half-centuries.
Swann added, "I genuinely feel sorry for him because I don't think he deserved to miss out on this whole series."
Australia have definitely missed a good slow bowler during the Ashes, as England has been able to pile up huge runs throughout the series, and faced no difficulty once the ball lost its shine. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 went for an all out pace-attack in the last two Tests,
and now look set to give a Test Cap to left arm spinner http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Michael-Beer-c1949 in the final Test of the series in Sydney.
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