Sydney, Dec 6(ANI): Noted cricket columnist Peter Roebuck has said that Australia’s need for a wrist-spinner was exposed as the host pressed for wickets on a benign Adelaide pitch against West Indies.

“Admittedly the West Indies tail wagged, a custom lost in the headstrong years. Nothing expresses a team’s state of mind better than the approach taken by the lower order. Mitchell Johnson was below his best. The Queenslander is the most influential but unreliable member of the pace quartet. Peter Siddle’s figures were unflattering, but he had reason to feel aggrieved,” Roebuck writes in a syndicated column for the Sydney Morning Herald.

“All the more reason to yearn for a wrist-spinner with the capacity to turn the ball on concrete or able to create confusion. As a rule, tailenders are not adept at picking from the hand,” he added.

Roebuck also highlighted that Australia did include a part-time wristie in Simon Katich, but skipper Ricky Ponting did not consider him worthy of a single over.

“Katich did not roll over an arm in his last Shield match on a docile Sydney deck. Katich’s problem is that he’d like to face his own bowling. Perhaps, too, he hates the idea of doing anything badly. These are barriers to overcome. Ponting was to blame for not trying Marcus North,” Roebuck said.

“After all, North was thrown the ball when a wicket was desperately needed in Cardiff and he was used as the main spinner at The Oval. For that matter, Michael Clarke (19 wickets at 39.7) was not introduced. Presumably, he is fit to bowl. Batsmen expect tailenders to dig in and so must be willing to oblige with the ball. Australia has a rich history of part-time leggies chipping in with an occasional wicket,” he added.

Roebuck also said that Ponting has many qualities, but his attitude towards spinners is not among them. (ANI)