KEY POINTS:
Australia's pace-spin combination of Shaun Tait and Brad Hogg has received the thumbs-up from someone who sees more of them than most - wicket keeper and vice-captain Adam Gilchrist.
Tait, the raw, round-arm paceman from South Australia is the second highest wicket-taker in the tournament so far with
16 dismissals, and Hogg, the brilliantly rare left-arm chinaman bowler, is in fifth spot with 15 at 17.33.
Together the pair have added extreme variation to an attack that was only months ago being described as one-dimensional, and have played an enormous role in Australia's march through to the semifinal phase.
Tait, however, is the one who's raised the most eyebrows after having his initial selection questioned, mostly on the grounds of a dramatically unconventional action that often resulted in, apart from wickets, wides and loose deliveries.
Gilchrist said yesterday that the rookie paceman - who's played eight of his 12 ODIs at the World Cup - was never going to be as metronomic as teammate Glenn McGrath, but had a lot to offer in terms of unsettling batsmen and taking wickets.
"With his action and his style of bowling I'm not sure how much fine tuning you are ever going to do [with Tait]," said Gilchrist.
"He's obviously working very hard with [bowling coach] Troy Cooley and all the rest of the bowlers. He'd like to be Mr Consistency like Glenn McGrath and we'd all like to be scoring runs like Ricky Ponting - but everyone has their own traits.
"That is what our bowling group has done well. We have variety, which can be used at different times, and Taity is a key ingredient in that. He's proven to be a fantastic part of that set-up.
Gilchrist said one of the major reasons the raw-boned right-armer was making waves at the World Cup was because of the astute captaincy of Ricky Ponting, who had continued to demonstrate confidence in him.
The veteran Aussie gloveman said Ponting's reintroduction of Tait against Sri Lanka, after he had conceded plenty in his first spell, would have meant a great deal to the fast bowler who cracked 160km/h against New Zealand earlier this season.
"The good thing about Taity at the moment is that he's got no fear," said Gilchrist. "His is never going to be a refined action and that is part of his appeal. There are not many things that can scare you more as a batsman than raw pace, and he's got that.
"He has been known to bowl the odd wide and that's what's likely to come with that style of bowling. But we feel that, with the impact he has, it's well worth taking him on for a couple of extras."
As for Hogg, who is proving one of the tournament's most troublesome bowlers on all sorts of pitches - slow and evenly paced - Gilchrist said the left-arm wristy was backing up his own assertion that he'd do well at the 2007 World Cup.
"True to his word he is bowling extremely well," said Gilchrist. "I don't want to put pressure on him by saying he's bowling his best ever but he is having a great impact and has not had an off day.
"If you look back at his 100-plus game history there are not too many days when he has let himself down. Even when he has gone for 30 off three he often comes back and takes wickets."
Meanwhile, Gilchrist yesterday joined Ponting in singing the praises of New Zealand paceman Shane Bond, who has so far taken 12 tournament wickets at the miserly average of 12.83, and at an economy rate of 2.58.
"His numbers against everyone are brilliant," he said. "In fact his numbers are amazing. I suspect most batsmen around the world would think he is in the top group of fast bowlers around the world. He just keeps producing the goods."
