Hauritz is just a very average bowler who has benefitted by playing against highly incapable opposition recently..Pakistan, despite their Asian origin are poor against spin bowling, just look at their record against Warne and Muralitharan....let haritz ply his trade against India and Sri Lanka and he will soon be found out, let him come up against Sehwag & Co. at their best and his shortcomings will be cruelly exposed

It is an interesting thought. However Hauritz in my opinion is in the continuum of Aussie off spinners like Peter Taylor, Greg Matthews, Bruce Yardley and later Tim May who came into the game on a wearing 5th day wicket. Bouncier Australian wickets make them more penetrative especially at that stage. If I am not mistaken none of these luminaries were especially potent on less bouncier 5th day wickets outside Australia. I think development of Hauritz can be best judged with his performances in places like NZ or England. India has always be an aberration for spinners so that can be discounted.

As an Aussie I have to admit that 12 months ago I thought like many others that Hauritz was poor.
I greatly admire how much Hauritz has improved when so many have been calling for his blood. I think it shows a real strength of character that really successful bowlers need and I think this will take him to even greater heights regardless of what batsman think of him.
His flight, development of turn, subtle variations and arm ball make him a real threat. It is clear too that he has worked out how to get batsman out and then execute his plans. I think he has suffered from a lack of confidence by Ponting initally as far as close in field placings are concerned. I think that we are just starting to see that Ponting's and the Aussie team's confidence in him will lead to more aggressive field placings and this will help his wicket taking abilities.

I agree with you. Pakistan said that they gave Hauritz his wickets however that is a generalisation. Spinners are there to deceive the batsmen through line, length, flight etc however what Hauritz has been doing them is deceiving them that he is can easily be taken apart. This causes batsmen to go after him and that plays into hauritzs hands as he will suffocate you into making a rash shot or mistake. I think as you say if batsmen realise he is not as bad as they think and respect his bowling he will not be as dangerous. However this will mean that he can tie down and end and the more aggressive fast bowlers can unleash a bit more. Im a fan of Hauritz and hope his success continues.

I believe 10 of his 18 wickets v pakistan were tail enders and I think generally this summer he was bowling to sides after aus had a lot of runs on the board. Having said that he's done a better job than expected but I expect the opposition to take good look at from now on.

An all-rounder with a first class batting average of 8.46? That's the only comment, in an otherwise very thoughtful article,with which I disagree.

'Alot to be said for what goes on the head' is probably more to the point. Self belief is probably the most potent difference between succeeding at the top and not and Hauritz certainly had his demons to overcome.

The success or failure of any bowler depends upon his control over his skills and the field placement he resorts to.For a spin bowler these skills must include the ability to procure drift with flight above the eye brow level of the batsman.One just has to go back to the ' ball of the century' that Warne bowled to Gatting in the Ashes some years ago. The ball drifted towards leg, pitched and spun knocking out the off stump. It was mesmerising stoff. But what is important is that the bowler must have the captain's confidence and his own as well. In Hauritz's case I think he was on the verge of being dropped when he uncorked all the match winning stuff. He had the luck and the self belief as well to do so. It is essential to flight the ball to beat the bat. This is what Hauritz did which gave him his well deserved success.

i think he was a poor bowler 12months ago and after playing against some poor opponents on pitches that any spinner should do good on the 5th day has been over hyped compared to a Vettori or Murali who do it nearly every game, give him a few years and we will have forgotten him. I like the new Aussie leggy cant remember his name but anyone who is learning from Warne Im gonna back.

i think that Hauritz is new to international cricket and honestly speaking he has done well in this short period. it is also true that he has given his good performances especially in test matches against the countries that are not good against spinners. Pakistan had a poor record in recent times against spinners, we have seen how they collapsed in test matches against spinners and Hauritz perfomance in Austaralia against pakistan can not be considered a high class performance. he will be tested agaisnt teams like India and sri lanka.
if he delivers against these oppositons who we all know are good against spinners then he will be really on his way to be a good asset for australia.

@ Pratik, that attitude is exactly what the article is talking about. Hauritz is not a great turner of the ball, but then again neither was Anil Kumble and look how many test scalps he got!

You neglect the fact Hauritz was neglected during the previous summer as well. All bowlers generally need to be able to grow into a position and continual run of test matches, not just off tests to try and prove yourself.

I recon Graemm Swann is a better off-spinner than
Nathan Hauritz.He has taken 4 five-wicket hauls
compared to Nathan's 2.Also,Nathan needs to prove
his mettle on subcontinent before coming in the league of Harbhajan and Muruli.

Sumit Gupta makes an interesting comment, except that Harbhajan and Murali are both sliding backwards into Hauritz's league. They are both spent forces, as is Mendis. Swann, Harris and Vettori only get wickets when batsmen treat them with too little respect. That leaves Hauritz as the last spinner who's improving and is nearly the best in the world. Face facts, the next world-dominating spinner isn't going to come from the subcontinent, just like the last (law-abiding) one.

on a point, alan, think u will find hauritz averages about 18 with the bat in first class cricket, and about 5 more in tests.still improving.

my vote is also with swann...he is far better thn hauritz..to find out details about both the bowlers visit...yeh hai cricketistan

Would like to put Hauritz in the same bracket as Kumble. Kumble suffered to ignominy of being introduced as a fifth seamer on his maiden tour to SA (though whether in fun is not too clear). but as he said, he just has to turn 2.5" to get an edge, Hauritz is doing the right thing by ignoring the idiots focusing on that aspect. What I found lacking was the monotonous (aka Panesar) length and pace. He has recently got quite a few variations which will force batsmen to take him lightly at their own peril. But I am at no point suggesting that he will end up being as successful or adept as Kumble because of differing circumstances but also its too early to judge.

I find it amazing how many people want Hauritz to fail and I'm really not sure why. What he's doing for Australia at the moment is up there with any Australian spinner over the last 30 years aside from Shane Warne. His average and wickets taken are more than satisfactory when compared to anybody else during that time period (in fact better than a lot of them). People need to remember what life was like before Shane Warne and get off Hauritz's back. And, seriously, if anyone thinks Steve Smith is ready for test cricket at this stage of the game they're kidding themselves.

Hauritz's real test will be only against India. Look at bowlers like Mendis, who knocked the Indians out in their first outing against him. But what happened the second time round later is there for all to see. So give him some time and an Indian summer before passing any judgements. He will have to contend against the who-and-who of the spin butchers.

Hauritz is definitely a very valuable bowler. why is it no one sees his quality? if we all stopped looking behind at Shane Warne, we'd certainly see that Hauritz is more than just average. and yes, Hauritz will soon be the best spinner in the world (currently right after Swann). perhaps underestimation is a good thing.
and why do people underestimate Nathan Hauritz? it might be because of his very friendly personality and his amiable demeanor.
but, despite not really having all those fancy tricks, he is definitely one to watch. for the batsmen and the spectators too.