AUSTRALIA will field six batsmen, a wicketkeeper, three fast bowlers and four spinners in the first Test against India. And get away with it.
Fourteen doesn't go into 11, but Simon Katich and Michael Clarke have spent the off-season priming themselves for spin-bowling duties on the subcontinent, tipping team balance a long way in Australia's favour for the next week's series opener for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
It is no small development because Katich and Clarke also have an enormous amount to offer Australia's attack for the Ashes series.
Katich, 35, has used the eight-week break since Australia's Test series against Pakistan to overcome shoulder problems and return to bowling his chinamen regularly in the SCG nets.
"I think more people get enjoyment out of watching me bowl than bat," Katich said yesterday, laughing
Having Katich and Clarke - who have best Test returns of 6-65 and 6-9 respectively - alongside specialist spinner Nathan Hauritz and off-spinning batsman Marcus North gives Australia a tremendously varied slow attack for the two-Test series against India, the Ashes and the World Cup.
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