(Ken Piesse is a veteran sportswriter who has covered cricket for more than 30 years.)

There's not a lot of love out there for Nathan Hauritz right now. But those already writing his epitaph are premature. He will be in Australia's first Ashes team in Brisbane in a fortnight.

Thrashed about in India and dropped from Australia's one-day combine, he may be more a drifter than a spinner, but Hauritz will relish a return to his old home town especially if the ‘Gabba wicket has the same bounce that so unbuckled the Sri Lankans on Sunday. 

He would have to self destruct twice in two Sheffield Shield trials from Wednesday to miss a place.

Australia's selection panel may have been overhauled, with a new supremo in Greg Chappell, but Hauritz and the equally-maligned Mike Hussey will both be allowed to least start in the most anticipated summer for years.

Many have forgotten that Hauritz had two "five-fors" amongst a 29-wicket haul  in six Test matches last summer and at a strike-rate only just inferior to Ricky Ponting's go-to man Mitchell Johnson.

The opportunity to play red-ball cricket is welcome as he can find a more relaxed rhythm without having to be confronted by batsmen wanting to hit him out of the park every second delivery.

Australia has gone unbeaten in Brisbane for decades, the team balance squarely revolving around three pacemen and a specialist spinner.

Last summer at the ‘Gabba, Hauritz took 5-57 for the game, albeit against a weakened West Indian unit which was beaten in three days.

Hauritz may not bat or field as well as younger rival Steve Smith, but he bowls a more reliable line and with England boasting three left-handers in their top six, will enjoy the opportunity to slide and bounce the ball towards first slip.

Had England fielded a fleet of right-handers, Smith's leg-breaks may have been more seriously considered, but he is yet a fledgling and must truly earn his place especially in the biggest summer of all.

Hauritz has served a lengthy apprenticeship and will enjoy his battle with counterpart Graeme Swann, who is likely to be England's key bowler after a calendar year in which he has netted a career-best 51 wickets in just 10 Tests.

Chappell wishes that the competition for the solitary spin spot could be more intense.

At Sheffield Shield level this calendar year, only four spinners have taken 10 or more wickets and one is a 38-year-old in Bryce McGain.

The NSW left-arm finger spinner Steve O'Keefe is the slow bowler most likely to unseat Hauritz sometime in the future at Test level. His efforts this week and next, if selected in NSW's full-strength all-star line-ups, will be an immediate pointer to his international prospects.

No other spinner is truly in contention, not even the Tasmanian Xavier Doherty who played two of the three one-dayers against the Sri Lankans.

The selectors would have more options if Cameron White was bowling at his best but he's had just two or three overs of leggies all year. In the recent IPL Twenty20s he bowled some seam-ups at slowish medium rather than leg-breaks.

Should White re-find his best bowling touch, he could seriously push Marcus North for the No.6 batting position in the Australian side. Without the extra string to his bow, he may be confined long-term to one-day and Twenty20 internationals. 

SPINNERS IN SHEFFIELD SHIELD CRICKET, 2010 

Age                                                   Mts         Wkts          Ave          Best

25            Cullen Bailey (SA)            1          0-125           -                  -

26            Michael Beer (WA)           2            5              49.20        3-109

21            Cameron Boyce (Qld)       3           8              42.88         6-181

27            Xavier Doherty (Tas)         4          16             22.25         5-83

28            Nathan Hauritz (NSW)       1           1               7.00           1-7

27            Jason Krejza (Tas)             2           1           142.00         1-62

38            Bryce McGain (Vic)            4         12            27.88          4-70

29            Aaron O'Brien (SA)            6           8              67.63        4-74

25            Steve O'Keefe (NSW)        4         18            20.09          4-87

28            Chris Simpson (Qld)           6           4             79.25         3-40

21            Steve Smith (NSW)            4          15            29.52          7-64

27            Cameron White (Vic)          1         0-3             -                   -