Nathan Hauritz has expressed his frustration over the constant criticism of his bowling after almost leading Australia to victory in the opening Ashes Test in Cardiff.

The much-maligned spinner showed up the more celebrated English spin pairing of Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar at Sophia Gardens by taking match figures of 6-158 to their combined 1-246.

The Poms were supposed to have an edge in the spin department this series but Hauritz tossed the form book out the window in Wales.

He was the leading wicket-taker in the match and his 3-63 off 37 overs on the final day nearly won the contest.

“I don’t read the papers a great deal because since I’ve been here I don’t think I’ve had one positive word said about me,” he said.

“It’s very hard when you know deep down that you can do the job, but people haven’t seen the best of you.

“Last year for NSW, I only played a few games and I was straight back in the Test side, I was finding my feet then.

“I’ve had a lot of faith shown in me by the selectors and Punter (Australian captain Ricky Ponting), and it’s been fantastic.

“It was good yesterday to bowl on a turning wicket and people could see I can spin the ball now and again, because everyone says I can’t spin the ball.

“It was good to show that I can spin (it), and to be a bit of a threat come day five.”

Hauritz had struggled to grip the Duke ball in the two lead-up matches and had thought he had bowled himself out of first Test calculations with his ordinary performances.

He really got his act together on Sunday, extracting spin and bounce and his variation kept the English batsmen pinned to their crease.

Not that he expected the praise to start flowing in the press.

“I think I’ll always be written about to be honest,” he said.

“Every game I play in I’m always going to be Shane Warne’s successor, Stuart MacGill and that sort of thing.”
He expected the Poms to make life more difficult for him in the second Test at Lord’s this week.

“It was the first time they’ve ever seen me bowl virtually,” he said.

“They’ll have their own plans, Lord’s is a different wicket altogether.

“They are going to play me differently, I’ve got to work out how I think they are going to play and combat it.”

© AAP 2012

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