After Ponting, Thomson turned his ire on spinner Nathan Hauritz and said even part-timers like Simon Katich and Michael Clarke stand a better chance of grabbing a wicket. “... he (Ponting) has got a bloke in there who can’t even spin a ball (Nathan Hauritz). Simon Katich and Michael Clarke have more chance of taking a wicket than Hauritz.
“Why go for a guy like that? I don’t rate Hauritz,” said Thomson. He, however, still picked Australia as the favourite for the Ashes that starts July 8.