Swepson takes turn in submitting spin pitch

Queensland leg-spinner Mitch Swepson says producing spin-friendly first-class pitches in Australia is just as an important for the country's batters as it is for its spin bowlers.

Swepson has joined former NSW spinner Stephen O'Keefe and Queensland captain Usman Khawaja in calling for Marsh Sheffield Shield surfaces around the country to better assist spinners and replicate conditions found in the subcontinent, where Australia has not won a Test series since 2011.

"Going forward I think what we need to do is come up with some conditions that suit the spinners a little bit more," Swepson said in Brisbane today.

"That would not only expose us spinners to those conditions that we're going to get in other parts of the world but if I can recall speaking to Burnsy (Bulls and Australia opener Joe Burns) last the year (and) the first over of spin he faced in the Shield was in round seven against Victoria at the Gabba.

"He's our Test opener, he may have to go out and open the batting against a spinning ball in Bangladesh or Sri Lanka.

"It's also getting that exposure for our batters and that's why you've seen players have come out and said it's something that needs to be addressed."

Cricket Australia has heard the concerns about playing and bowling spin at domestic level and acted by discontinuing the use of the British-made Dukes ball, which had been used in the back half of the Shield season for the past four years to increase exposure to seam bowling.

However, the Dukes ball had a negative impact on spin bowlers, with just 10 per cent of the wickets taken with the Dukes ball last Shield season captured by spinners.

Swepson admits he enjoyed bowling with the Dukes ball, but opportunities to use it were few and far between given how successfully his fast bowlers performed.

"It was so hard to get the ball in your hand because the quicks just took wickets left, right and centre," he said.

"It's great to hear that it's not just spinners that are worried about it. We're getting some batters come forward and say, 'I think we need to do something about the conditions' and obviously the ball is one measure Cricket Australia has taken into getting the spinners more opportunity, which is great."

O'Keefe, who played nine Tests before retiring earlier this year, has suggested scarifying pitches could be one way to bring spinners back into four-day cricket and improve Australia's chances of winning in turning conditions overseas.

"You could also experiment with not sweeping the foot holes and not sweeping the creases, to keep a bit more of that damaged soil and (loose) dirt out there because it helps spinners and it helps batters become better at playing spin," O'Keefe said in April.

"If you want to win overseas and in those conditions, spinners are the ones who have got to win you games.

"It is a matter of urgency, it needs to be done."

Swepson is one player likely to feature in Australia's next Test tour of Asia, which was meant to be last month before the two-Test campaign in Bangladesh was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Swepson has been an auxiliary member of Australia's Test squads in the past few years, serving as an understudy to primary spinner Nathan Lyon, and said he had his sights set on a rescheduled Bangladesh tour after his red-ball bowling "went to another level" last summer.

"I definitely had that (Bangladesh tour) in the back of my mind," Swepson said. "It's something that I was striving for.

"I got the opportunity to be part of the squad for the Sydney Test (against New Zealand this year), which was great just to be around the group.

"For me, it's just about continuing to improve on my game and keep getting better as a bowler and when that opportunity comes just be ready to take it."

In addition to the Tests in Bangladesh, which are yet to be rescheduled, Australia are slated to play Tests away against Pakistan, Sri Lanka and India in the next two-and-a-half years.