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Recalled off-spinner Nathan Hauritz says he’s ready to tighten the screws against South Africa in the Boxing Day Test.
Hauritz was on Monday named to replace Perth scapegoat Jason Krejza, who returned the unflattering match figures of one for 204 in the six-wicket defeat to the Proteas in the first Test at the WACA.
Hauritz believes selectors gave him the nod because of his ability to keep the runs down, something that Krejza, for all his attacking potential, was unable to do in Perth.
“I guess Jase and I are different bowlers, Jase is probably seen as a bit more of an attacking bowler, while I’m probably more economical,” the 27-year-old said.
“That’s probably the make-up that the selectors were looking for in this Test, next Test it might be different and I might not get picked, so fortunately for me this one was good.”
Chairman of selectors Andrew Hilditch said Krejza had been a victim of circumstances – learning his trade under the harsh glare of Test cricket while still needing to smooth a few of his rougher edges.
“He’ll be very disappointed and has every right to be, but for this particular series and what we really thought we needed to achieve we thought Nathan was the right choice,” Hilditch said in Adelaide.
“Although they’re both young and of a similar age, Nathan has certainly got a lot more experience at this stage than Jason does.
“We really like the way Jason goes about it, he’s a very aggressive spinner, gets a lot of work on the ball, but just at this stage he’s very unfortunately learning his trade in Test cricket.
“He’s learning it in a really harsh environment, India was tough, and then he’s playing South Africa in Perth and it probably doesn’t get much harder than that.
“Now back in domestic cricket he just needs to get his skills to the next level, which I’m sure he can.”
The position of frontline spinner in the current Australian side remains open to all following the retirement of Shane Warne.
“It’s a battle between any sort of spinner at the moment to play, we’re all chomping at the bit to get that opportunity,” Hauritz said.
“At the moment Jase and I are the ones that they’re using and it’s up to us to grab that and bowl well and take it from there.
“You can only worry about the next ball, it does put a spin on things with Australia being one down in the series and that’s a situation that doesn’t happen very often.”
Hauritz was Krejza’s injury replacement during the second Test against New Zealand in Adelaide at the end of last month and was impressive, claiming four inexpensive wickets for the match.
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