Ricky Ponting Says Nathan Hauritz is a "Lock" For India and Ashes; Talks up Smith as Well

The Australian captain is trying to resolve some of the concerns concerning their spin department and he is reposing faith in the injured Nathan Hauritz and young spinner Steven Smith.

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Ricky Ponting is backing Haurtiz all the way for Australia's tour of India as well as the Ashes that follow thereafter. Haurtiz has been sidelined by injuries. But they do not faze Ponting, "He has started running again which is a good sign, without pain in his foot. He started bowling again last week. I'll be doing a lot of work with him over the next few weeks. I'll be facing a lot of him considering we've got (England's Graeme) Swann and Harbhajan (India's Harbhajan Singh) to confront over the next few months.

"Is he a lock-in? I think so. What he's done over the last 12 or 18 months as our number one spinner has been of the highest quality. With him back to full fitness I think he'll get himself back into the side again."

Ponting did not deny that a two spinner situation could be tempting him during the India tour as well as the Ashes Tests at Sydney and Adelaide, and spoke about Steven Smith, "With (all-rounder) Shane Watson in our side it gives us the flexibility to be able to look at playing two spinners. Steven came along really well in the two Tests that he played in the UK (against Pakistan).

"We saw towards the end of the Headingley Test his ability with the bat and also his willingness to be aggressive with the ball. That's not an easy thing to do for a young leg-spinner to maintain that aggression. He's a work in progress but the more games that he can play is obviously going to be better for him and he'll learn all the time."

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