Sydney, Jan 31 : Australian off-spinner Nathan Hauritz will become the next one million dollar man in the national squad after the most successful summer of his career.
Just four years after he contemplated quitting top-level cricket, Hauritz is set for a bumper pay day when Cricket Australia (CA) finalizes its 25-man contract list for the 2010-11 summer.
Now regarded as Australia's leading spinner in Test, one-day and Twenty20 cricket, he is tipped to surge into CA's top 10 players - a rise that will see him secure an estimated base deal of 600,000 dollars.
Cricket New South Wales boss Dave Gilbert believes Hauritz deserves every dollar following his magnificent 2009-10 summer that saw him finish as Australia's leading wicket-taker alongside fast bowler Mitchell Johnson with 29 at 26.82.
“Nathan is now our best spinner in all three forms of the game and is pretty much a regular member of the team. In terms of rankings, he's putting himself right up there among the big boys like (Ricky) Ponting, (Michael) Clarke and Johnson. He's almost certainly put himself in the top 10 contracted players this year,” Fox News quoted Gilbert, as saying.
“He is the perfect example for any player who is prepared to have a go and back themselves. Some of the crap he's had to deal with would have killed off a lesser person. The way he's gone about his cricket despite extraordinary criticism says a lot about his character,” he added.
Hauritz fought off injury concerns to play in Test series against West Indies and Pakistan. Most notably, he finished 2009 on a high with 5/101, his maiden five-wicket haul, against Pakistan at the MCG, and then replicated the effort in the next Test at the SCG against the same opponents, taking 5/53 in the second innings as Australia sealed a remarkable comeback victory.
© ANI
