Australia captain Ricky Ponting has confirmed left-arm quick Doug Bollinger will be named 12th man for the opening Test against the West Indies starting in Brisbane on Thursday, presenting Nathan Hauritz a golden chance to nail down the spinner's spot in the Test lineup.
Hauritz has become a regular in the national one-day side and while he also holds the title of Australia's first-choice spinner in the Test arena, selectors opted for an all-out pace attack for two fixtures in the recent failed Ashes campaign.
While England's tweaker Graeme Swann snapped up eight wickets at The Oval to see his side reclaim the urn, the omitted Hauritz watched from the sidelines while part-timer Marcus North handled Australia's spin duties.
However Hauritz has been reinstated for this week's Test at the Gabba and Ponting believed this summer will provide the off-spinner with a chance to finally become a permanent fixture of the Australian XI, some five years after bursting onto the scene in the tour to India.
"There is a great opportunity for Nathan in the coming Test matches to really grab hold of the spinner's position in our team with both hands," Ponting said on Wednesday.
"His performances in the early Test matches of the Ashes series were very good, I think they probably exceeded some of our expectations on the way we thought he could bowl, so that was a real positive."
"He's always been a very good one-day bowler and we want to keep developing him as a Test bowler and he'll get a good opportunity to do that over the next few days."
It has been almost five years since the Wondai-born 28-year-old has attempted to make the red ball turn at the Gabba, a venue where he boasts a first-class bowling average of 64.10.
Hauritz shifted states to NSW at the end of the 2005-06 season after his career stalled with Queensland and will be playing his first Test at the ground he once called home.
Legendary leg-spinner Shane Warne, who has always rated the Gabba as one of his most favourite Test pitches to bowl on, expected Hauritz would cause the West Indies a few headaches late in the piece.
"I think he's doing a pretty good job, he'll bowl well out there during the Test," Warne said.
"It's a really nice place to bowl spin in Test matches, you always get that bounce … it's the best first-class wicket in the world."
"He's been the star of the Ashes series and now he's the only spinner in the squad, I think there's been some consistency shown (by the selectors)."
The West Indies remain undecided as to who will handle the drinks duties for the first Test, with Ramnaresh Sarwan's back injury further complicating the question as to whether lanky spinner Sulieman Benn will earn a berth in the Windies XI.
Having only arrived in Australia on Wednesday morning, West Indies captain Chris Gayle could be forgiven for not having a definite plan on the makeup of his side's bowling attack.
"We haven't discussed that yet," Gayle said.
"I don't know to be honest, because you have to remember we have an injury at this point in time, so we have to try and see how well we can actually balance the team."
Benn struggled in his side's drawn four-day tour game against Queensland at Allan Border Field, posting the unflattering figures of 1-151 on what was a rather dead track.
Windies coach David Williams was nonetheless confident Benn would do a more than adequate job if called upon, tipping the bounce generated by the giant's towering frame could be a serious concern for Australian batsmen.
"That's the first four-day game in a long time for most of our guys, and I guess Benn himself was just trying to feel himself out and trying to get acclimatised and accustomed to the bounce and different conditions," Williams said.
"We've just got to look at the track and see how it'll play before we make any decision."
"I think he's experienced enough, if he bowls as well as he's bowling at the moment, he's going to be handful. Normally it's a good track, we've just got to wait and see."