Gayle backhands Hauritz by saying he is facing himself

PERTH - West Indies captain Chris Gayle has given spinner Nathan Hauritz the ultimate backhander by claiming: “I feel like I’m facing up to myself”.

Gayle, who has no special rating of his own part-time off-spin, does not appear to be worried about the prospect of facing Hauritz in Perth.

Hauritz bowled well in the first Test in Brisbane, but Gayle has few fears about the spinner who failed to fire when he took 2-179 in Adelaide and was out bowled by Windies left arm spinner Sulieman Benn.

“I hear the Aussies look like they are going to play Nathan Hauritz here in Perth,” Gayle said.

“At the moment when Hauritz is bowling to me, it’s like I’m bowling to myself. He really doesn’t turn the ball too much that is for sure. Occasionally he might get the odd one to spin. He is still young and hasn’t played a lot of games, so maybe he can improve,” the Sydney Morning Herald quoted Gayle, as saying.

Hauritz, 28, knows he must bowl better in the third Test this week after confessing he was disappointed with his performance in Adelaide, a place which traditionally helps spinners.

Australia also has painful memories of its last spin experiment in Perth when former Test off-spinner Jason Krejza was flogged out of the attack, taking 1-204 in the loss to South Africa last summer.

It was Krejza’s last Test and Hauritz knows the ground can be a brutal place for spinners.

Hauritz, however, insists he is a vastly different bowler and is far more confident now than he was then. (ANI)