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AUSTRALIA is hiding leg-spinner Fawad Ahmed from England with a plan to unveil him as Australia's surprise Ashes weapon in the first Test at Brisbane's Gabba next month.
The selectors deliberately avoided choosing the Pakistani refugee for next week's Australia A game against the tourists in Hobart so England's batsmen could not get a good look at him.
While all the talk has been about Australia's batting heading into the Ashes, Fawad shapes as the bolter in this series after gaining his citizenship earlier this year.
Chairman of selectors John Inverarity indicated that Fawad was squarely in the frame and made no apologies for not choosing him in the Australia A team.
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"Leading into a series, you're wise in not giving the opposition a good look at your bowlers," Inverarity said yesterday.
England has a long and difficult history against leg-spin, with five former Australian twirlers claiming 80 wickets or more against the Old Enemy.
Not surprisingly Shane Warne is chief amongst them with 195 wickets but there are three centurions with Clarrie Grimmett (106) and Bill O' Reilly (102) while Arthur Mailey took 86 and Richie Benaud 83.
Brisbane's fast and bouncy wicket has a reputation for helping quick bowlers but leg-spinners have prospered on the lively surface.
Of the top three Australian wicket-takers against England at the Gabba, two of them are leg-spinners, Warne and Benaud, with 19 and 17 wickets respectively from three Tests.
Not surprisingly Glenn McGrath is on top with 22 wickets in four Tests.
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Fawad's Sheffield Shield form for Victoria over the next two weeks will play a significant part in whether he can upstage incumbent Nathan Lyon.
Not that Lyon has a particularly secure hold on the position as Australia's leading spinner.
He was surprisingly dropped for the second Test in India earlier this year and then again overlooked for the opening two Tests of the Ashes when 19-year-old Ashton Agar was chosen instead.
If Fawad, 31, can continue the Shield form for Victoria he showed when chosen for the final three matches of the season, claiming 16 wickets, he will be difficult to ignore.
He played two Twenty20 and two one-day matches against England midyear with modest results but Inverarity made no secret of how the selectors feel about the spinner.
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"We're very pleased with the way Fawad is going," Inverarity said.
"There's been a great deal of press because it's a very special story.
"But we broke the ice with him in Australia A both in the UK and in South Africa and Zimbabwe. Then he played some ODI and T20 cricket representing Australia.
"We're very keen for him to settle into Shield cricket to see how well he can do there and have a consistent run.
"This next series of Shield games is very important in his career.
"I saw him bowl in a couple of Ryobi Cup games and he bowled well. He's a good bowler."
Victoria's left arm finger spinner Jon Holland has been chosen in the Australia A team after missing last season with a shoulder injury Ahmed is clearly ahead of him in four-day cricket.
"Victoria's intention has been to play Fawad in their Shield side," Inverarity said.
Australian leg-spinners against England
Shane Warne: 36 tests - 195 wickets - average of 23 - 8-71 best figures
Clarrie Grimmett: 22 tests - 106 wickets - average of 32 - 6-37 best figures
Bill O'Reilly: 19 tests - 102 wickets - average of 25 - 7-54 best figures
Arthur Mailey: 18 tests - 86 wickets - average of 34 - 9-121 best figures
Richie Benaud: 27 tests - 83 wickets - average of 32 - 6-70 best figures
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