Ashes decider: Type of wicket will decide whether I will play: Hauritz

August 25th, 2009 MELBOURNE - Chairman of Australian selectors, Andrew Hilditch, has rejected criticism for not playing spinner Nathan Hauritz in the fifth Ashes Test, and said that Australia lost the Test because they got 160 in the first innings. Hilditch admitted that his panel was "gutted" by Australia's 2-1 Ashes loss to England.

August 25th, 2009 LONDON - England cricketer Graeme Swann, who took the last Australian wicket to clinch the Ashes, has said that he has never experienced anything like the surge of emotion and happiness he felt after winning the Ashes. Swann said that he would cherish the day and the experience for rest of his life, as he has seen all the phases in his career and the experience on the final day at The Oval beats it all.

August 21st, 2009 LONDON - Australian paceman Peter Siddle has backed Australian selectors for their decision to play four quicks and use part-time spinners in the series decider at The Oval. The Oval pitch turned low and slow on the opening day of the Test match, and Australian selectors were being asked if they should have opted for an off-spinner -Nathan Hauritz- in the team.

August 20th, 2009 LONDON - Australian cricket captain Ricky Ponting has hinted strongly that the selectors are likely to keep faith in fast bowler Stuart Clark at the expense of Nathan Hauritz in the final Ashes Test beginning today What we see at the moment is what we expect," said Ponting who, at 34, will surely be playing his last Ashes Test on English soil. "We're going to have to see something really different to change the make-up of the side considering everything worked really well.

August 18th, 2009 LONDON - Australia has roped in former Pakistan off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq to work with Nathan Hauritz ahead of the fifth and final Ashes Test at the Oval. Saqlain was seen giving some important tips and advice on slow bowling in local conditions to Hauritz on Monday, The News reports.

August 17th, 2009 CANTERBURY - Australia cantered to victory over the England Lions here on Sunday, but the focus was on the battle between pace bowler Stuart Clark and off-spinner Nathan Hauritz for the final bowling spot for the fifth Ashes Test. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, the Australian selectors will be taxed about whom to finally chose, as both put in above average performances in the side match.

August 16th, 2009 CANTERBURY - Being one of just four Australian cricketers who played in the shock 2-1 Ashes series loss to England in 2005, opener Simon Katich says Australia is ideally placed to prevent a repeat (a draw) at The Oval, when the fifth match gets underway from Thursday. Katich says his side is primed for revenge.

August 15th, 2009 SURREY - Australian captain Ricky Ponting has said that ground conditions will decide whether pacer Stuart Clark or spinner Nathan Hauritz start for the fifth and final Ashes Test match at The Oval, starting on Thursday. "There are no favourites for that bowling spot at the moment," The Daily Telegraph quoted Ponting, as saying.

July 28th, 2009 WARWICKSHIRE - Edgbaston curator Steve Rouse has said that playing Australian off-spinner Nathan Hauritz in the third Ashes Test will be a "waste", as the pitch tipped to be a "traditional English seamer". The Herald Sun quoted Rouse as saying that two weeks of rain had put his pitch three days behind schedule and Australia would be foolish not to select a four-pronged pace attack for the third Test.

July 17th, 2009 LONDON - Australian wicketkeeper Brad Haddin is hopeful about injured off-spinner Nathan Hauritz bowling in the second innings at Lord's. Hauritz dislocated the middle finger of his bowling hand on the opening day of the second Ashes Test.

July 8th, 2009 BRISBANE - Former Australian star leg-spinner Shane Warne has urged Australian skipper Ricky Ponting to include off-spinner Nathan Hauritz in the squad for the first Ashes test match, and show faith in the inexperienced bowler by using him in an attacking way. Australia's greatest spinner said that while Hauritz has a "defensive-type" role in tests, altering it to an attacking mode, would make him more effective.

June 29th, 2009 LONDON - The international career of Australian off spinner Nathan Hauritz is hanging in the balance after taking one wicket for 158 runs in a tour match against Sussex. According to Fox Sports, the Australian team management has conceded that they are seriously thinking of leaving Hauritz on the sidelines in Cardiff, on a pitch that was tipped to take spin for the match, beginning on July 8.

June 20th, 2009 SYDNEY - Australia's only specialist spinner for Ashes series, Nathan Hauritz, is thinking of England's batsmen, and how they might treat him. He ponders what Kevin Pietersen and other England players could have in store for him, and is a bit excited about it.

June 12th, 2009 LONDON - England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff Friday made a comeback to competitive cricket for Lancashire and is upbeat about his performance in the Ashes. Flintoff, surprisingly handed a starting slot by coach Peter Moores just six weeks after surgery on a troublesome knee forced him out of the IPL, claimed a wicket in just two balls of his comeback.

June 11th, 2009 PERTH - Former Sri Lanka and currently Western Australia coach Tom Moody is confident that off-spinner Nathan Hauritz will play the first Ashes Test next month. The New South Wales spinner has taken 14 wickets in four Tests, but is still regarded as a containing bowler rather than a big wicket-taking threat.