Between Shane Warne and Nathan Lyon : Australia's army of unheralded spinners

#4 Jason Krejza

Jason Krejza playing against India in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy

Not many bowlers can boast of an 8-wicket haul in their debut match. Jason Krejza made headlines with his attacking brand of off-spin bowling as he ran through the famed Indian batting line-up in his first ever innings for Australia at Nagpur in the 4th Test of 2008 Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

As memorable as his debut was, it came with a heavy price. Krejza leaked runs at will as his 8 wickets came at a cost of 215 runs in 44 overs. Even in the second innings he bagged 4 wickets but after giving away 143 runs in 31 overs. His wicket tally grabbed attention but his economy raised even more eyebrows. A match haul of 12 for 358 did more harm than good as India romped home with a comfortable win by 172 runs against the Aussies.

Krejza was inducted into the Australian squad after a decent season for Tasmania as national selectors searched in every nook and corner of Australia for the next Test spinner. Having dealt with disciplinary issues of his own, Krejza came a long way in repaying the faith showed upon him. He was handy with the bat too, with a first-class hundred to his name.

His wicket-taking ability got him another crack at the Test level as he was selected for Australia's next tour to South Africa. There in the 1st match of the series Krejza couldn't create much of an impact and returned with a match haul of 49-4-204-1. With economy rates touching the sky, he lost favor with the selectors and was subsequently dropped from the national side. A national recall never came and Krejza played his last first-class match for Tasmania in 2013.

#3 Xavier Doherty

Xavier Doherty bowling against England

Xavier Doherty was called up for Australia's Test side for the Ashes after an impressive debut against Sri Lanka in ODIs. He made his Test debut in the first match of the 2010 Ashes at Brisbane, selected ahead of Nathan Hauritz.

Although his debut was largely forgettable, racking up figures of 48.5-8-148-2 in a drawn encounter, he was retained in the side for the next match at Adelaide. Fortunes didn't turn there too for Doherty as he was smashed all over the park by the likes of Pietersen and Cook, who scored a double hundred and a hundred respectively. Doherty ended up with figures of 27-3-158-1 as England decimated Australia by an innings and 71 runs.

Xavier Doherty was stronger ODIs, where he was a regular feature in the Australian side for a while. Australia missed him during the 2011 World Cup in the subcontinent, when a back injury ruled him out of selection.

It was nearly two and a half years before he made a comeback into the Test arena, this time during Australia's disastrous tour of India in 2013, where they were blanked 0-4. Doherty played two Tests in the series, at hyderabad and Mohali, and again visibly lacked enough penetration to trouble the Indian batsmen.

He often bowled tight lines, but lacked adequate weapons in his armory to be truly threatening at the Test level. In the Test at Hyderabad he picked up three lower-order wickets after toiling hard for 46.1 overs and giving away 131 runs as India won by an innings and 135 runs. In Mohali too his numbers didn't improve as he ended up with the combined figures of 31-10-111-1, playing alongside Nathan Lyon as the second spinner.

Doherty was subsequently dropped from the Test side but was in the ODI scheme of things even till the 2015 World Cup. His career began with a lot of promise for Tasmania, where he was named the state's One Day player of the year for two successive seasons from 2006-08. Out of national contention for two years now in any format, Doherty announced his retirement from cricket in March 2017, after the conclusion of the 2016-17 Sheffield Shield season.