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

#2 Steve O'Keefe

Steve O'Keefe playing vs Pakistan

Steve O'Keefe was one name in the long list of spinners in the post Shane Warne era who waited for their chance even as other spinners with less fascinating numbers got a nod ahead of him. He had been brilliant for New South Wales over the years, compiling an average of around 25 with the ball in his First-Class career, numbers far superior than most of the spinners around, but a Test call-up didn't come his way for a lengthy span of time.

Stars finally aligned for the left-arm orthodox bowler when he was selected for Australia's tour of UAE to play against Pakistan in 2014, four years after making his T20I debut against the same team. He was the top wicket-taker in the preceding summer, bagging 41 wickets in the Sheffield Shield at 20.43. He compiled match figures of 57-6-219-4 on Test debut at Dubai, as Australia lost by 221 runs.

The first four Tests of his career were spread across four series, with debut against Pakistan, a washed out match against West Indies, a solitary Test on the disastrous tour of Sri Lanka before injury struck and he was sent back home, and then a Test against Pakistan at the SCG. The numbers were decent to say the least, 14 wickets at 32.78, but O'Keefe struggled for consistency.

His moment in the sun finally came on the tour to India in 2017, when on a rank turner at Pune, O'Keefe bamboozled the Indian batting line-up with his accurate bowling. A match haul of 12 for 70, with identical figures of 6 for 35 spread across both innings was a just reward for the hard toil he had put in over the years. He single-handedly put Australia at a 1-0 lead in a keenly contested series, and looked promising for the matches to come.

O'Keefe played all four Tests on the India tour as the second spinner alongside Nathan Lyon, but rewards were hard to come by at Ranchi, Bangalore and Dharamshala. He could muster only 7 wickets in the next three Tests after Pune, at an unremarkable average of 53.14, as Australia failed to register a win and lost the series 2-1.

With both skipper and selectors aiming an eye on the future, O'Keefe fell out of favor and was not initially selected on the tour of Bangladesh, replaced by Ashton Agar. But fortunes again turned for him as Australia shockingly lost the first Test and he was recalled as a stop-gap measure even as Agar failled to impress.

Although Australia won the second Test to level the two match series 1-1, O'Keefe was largely unimpressive, taking 2 wickets for 128 runs in the match. An Ashes recall doesn't seem likely for the left-armer as Nathan Lyon continues to be the no. 1 spinner in the country. To say that O'Keefe might have played his last for Australia might not be wrong.

#1 Nathan Hauritz

Nathan Hauritz playing vs Pakistan

An attacking off-spinner, Nathan Hauritz made his Test debut much before Warne retired, but remained on the fringes of the national side as Warne and MacGill remained the two leading spinners in the country. Making his debut against India in the famous Mumbai Test of the 2004 Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Hauritz took 5 wickets in the match on a square turner, where even Michael Clarke, a part-time bowler at best, took 6 for 9.

Hauritz was subsequently dropped from the national side and another chance was difficult to come by due to Warne's presence. An unlikely second chance came up in 2008, when Hauritz was recalled for the home series against New Zealand. Notable returns in subsequent matches made him a regular in the national side for a couple of years.

Hauritz had his best series against Pakistan in 2010 at home, where 18 wickets at 23.05 in 3 matches made him the country's no. 1 spinner. The selectors breathed a sigh of relief for a while, as Hauritz looked to continue being the first choice spinner for a long time.

But poor form struck soon as Hauritz struggled for consistency in next few matches. During the tour of New Zealand in March 2010, he could bag only 4 wickets in 2 Tests at an average of 65.75. The next tour of India proved to be his undoing as he toiled hard but couldn't greatly trouble the Indian batsmen.

An ever increasing average and economy rate made the selectors run out of patience and he was dropped from the national side, only to be replaced by Nathan Lyon. In a career spanning over 7 years, Hauritz played 17 Tests, taking 63 wickets at 34.98. In January 2016, Hauritz annouced his retirement from competitive cricket.