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Those who thought Nathan Hauritz had made the grade as a Test match slow bowler following his successive five-wicket hauls against Pakistan may need to reconsider.
Pakistan’s coach Intikhab Alam reckons Hauritz did not earn those wickets, instead being handed them on a plate by wasteful batting by the tourists in the second innings at Melbourne and Sydney.
In those matches Hauritz’s returns of 5-101 and 5-53 arrived amid a flurry of strokes by the tourists, as evidenced by his economy rates of 4.2 and 4.41 for the two innings.
“Hauritz has done well but I feel that we have given him wickets,” Intikhab said.
“I can see if someone has bowled a really good ball and got somebody out, but we have been giving wickets by trying to get after him.
“I’m not taking anything away from Hauritz, I think he is an intelligent bowler and he bowled well, you have to give him credit for that.
“But I personally feel we have given him wickets rather than he has taken wickets.”
Intikhab’s words might help reduce the hype around Hauritz since his fourth innings successes, which followed Australian chairman of selectors Andrew Hilditch’s call for the adopted New South Welshman to do more in the latter stages of a Test.
Hauritz’s general reliance upon flight and changes of pace rather than sharp spin for his wickets does leave him open to the prospect of being dismantled by nimble-footed batsmen, and Pakistan have in recent years faltered badly against spinners of the non-Indian variety.
Watching the Pakistan series from afar, Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack editor Scyld Berry was similarly skeptical about whether Hauritz could go on taking wickets if batsmen were a little less generous.
“Nathan Hauritz has done a decent job as Shane Warne’s replacement: 12 Tests so far and 47 wickets at 30 runs each,” Berry wrote in London’s Sunday Telegraph.
“But the day will surely come when a batsman takes his offspin apart.”
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