Nathan Hauritz - Domestic Career

Domestic Career

On the back of his performances at Under 19s level for Queensland and Australia in 2001 Hauritz was selected to play for the Queensland one-day side to play against Victoria at the Gabba on 19 January 2001. In a day-night game that Victoria went on to win, Hauritz took 0/38 off his ten overs and scored a duck with the bat. Nevertheless, he was selected again for the next match and played out the rest of the Mercantile Mutual Cup season for the Bulls.

Later in the year, in Queensland's opening game of the 2001–02 Pura Cup, Hauritz made his first class debut playing against Victoria at the Punt Road Oval in Melbourne on 24 October 2001. In a rain shortened match, Hauritz scored 41 after coming in at number ten in Queensland's first innings, before taking 1/35 off 16 overs and 0/36 off 12 overs with the ball.

Following this Hauritz played first class and one-day domestic cricket for Queensland with regularity between 2001 and 2005, however, following his inclusion in squad for Australia's tour to India in 2004, where Hauritz made his Test debut, he found himself struggling for form in the first class game, and his opportunities to play regularly for Queensland became more infrequent. In the 2004–05 domestic season he played just six matches and the following season he played only one. In the 2005 off season, Hauritz undertook a stint in the Lancashire League in which he played 24 matches for the Nelson Cricket Club.

Following criticism about his ability to spin the ball, Hauritz made the decision to move to New South Wales to play for the Blues, where he felt that he might have more opportunities to showcase his talents as a spinner on the traditionally spin-friendly Sydney Cricket Ground wicket. Nevertheless opportunities at first class level remained elusive for Hauritz and in the 2006–07 Pura Cup season he played only three first class games, including the final against Tasmania, in which he played alongside his main rival Stuart MacGill and took 0/22 and 1/56 in a match that Tasmania won by 426 runs.

He encountered more competition for selection when left arm unorthodox spinner Beau Casson moved from Western Australia to New South Wales.

The following season Hauritz found himself out of favour once more, playing only one first class game for New South Wales, although he played in eight one-day domestic games as part of the Ford Ranger Cup. The 2008–09 season began only a little better for Hauritz, playing the first couple of matches of the Sheffield Shield competition and a tour game against New Zealand, however, he found himself not selected for New South Wales' next Shield game and it seemed once again that he might spend the rest of the season on the sidelines. A surprise return to the Australian Test team for the 2nd Test against New Zealand, however, seemed to offer him a lifeline and after a creditable performance against New Zealand in the Test at Adelaide, Hauritz found himself back in the New South Wales side, playing two more Sheffield Shield games in which he took ten wickets—including a career best 4/86—before being called for international duty in South Africa.