<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Australia pulled a 138-year first Sunday by failing to pick a spinner for a Sydney Cricket Ground Test, with skipper Steve Smith saying he had been backed into a corner.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Not since 1888 have the hosts neglected to play a frontline slow bowler at a storied venue, once considered the country's spin haven.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
But with all-rounder Beau Webster selected for the fifth and final Ashes Test against England and Todd Murphy overlooked, the unprecedented run was broken.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"Hate doing it," said Smith.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"But if we keep producing wickets that we don't think are going to spin and seam is going to play a big part and cracks are going to play a big part, you kind of get pushed into a corner."<\/p>\r\n\r\n
It is becoming a trend in Australia with the home side overlooking veteran Nathan Lyon for the pink-ball second Test in Brisbane before his injury replacement Murphy's non-selection in Melbourne and Sydney.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
In Sydney, England also failed to play their top spinner Shoaib Bashir for a fifth straight game, meaning he will return home having not bowled a ball in a Test in Australia.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Just nine wickets have been taken by spinners across the first four Tests of the series, from a fraction of the total overs bowled.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Speaking in Melbourne after a seam-friendly fourth Test ended inside two days, Smith elaborated on why spinners were not being used.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"With a lot of the wickets we're playing on now, I think spin ... is the easiest thing to face," he said.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"On some of these wickets that are offering a lot of seam, it's almost got to the point where (you ask): 'Why would you bowl it when you know you could leak 30 or 40 runs quickly if they decide to play positively and the game shifts immediately?'<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"I love seeing spinners play a part in the game, but right now, why would you?"<\/p>\r\n\r\n
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