Tait must play ahead of Hogg: Kasprowicz

Queensland fast bowler Michael Kasprowicz has urged Australias selectors to opt for pacer Shaun Tait instead of spinner Brad Hogg for the Boxing Day Test.

Sydney, Dec.25 : Queensland fast bowler Michael Kasprowicz has urged Australia's selectors to opt for pacer Shaun Tait instead of spinner Brad Hogg for the Boxing Day Test.

Kasprowicz, who has taken 113 wickets in 38 Tests, said the Indian batsmen simply did not want to face Tait's raw pace.

The highly respected Queensland fast bowler said: "I'd go with four quicks. When you are looking for the bowlers who are going to get you 20 wickets ... on a drop-in wicket it doesn't really offer a lot of turn.

"Nothing against Brad Hogg or anything, he's a fantastic bowler. I just think the Indian batsmen are seasoned campaigners against spin bowling and what they don't particularly like is fast bowling," The Age quoted Kasprowicz, as saying.

A day before the Test gets underway, opinions are divided and MCG curator Tony Ware has suggested Hogg should be included.

Hogg has taken nine wickets at 50.22 in an unimpressive four-Test career. But the 36-year-old spinner, who hasn't played a Test since October 2003, has been in top form in one-day cricket.

A two-time World Cup winner, Hogg is the 11th-ranked bowler in one-day internationals and has taken 13 wickets at 30.69 in four Pura Cup appearances for Western Australia this season.

Tait, 24, edged Mitchell Johnson out of the Australian side for this month's Chappell-Hadlee one-day series against New Zealand, taking five wickets at 17.80, and is pushing for a Test recall after playing two matches in the 2005 Ashes series.

"The mix of Brett Lee and Stuart Clark with left-armer Mitchell Johnson's variation and Shaun Tait as well, you have an arsenal there to go hard at them," Kasprowicz said.

"You've always got (part-time spinners) Andrew Symonds and Michael Clarke if you did want to change things around. But each of those quick bowlers is different in their own way and I think there is enough variation there," he added.

ANI