Australia batsman Justin Langer has said Michael Kasprowicz, rather than Shaun Tait, should join Glenn McGrath and Brett Lee in the tourists' attack for the fourth Ashes Test at Trent Bridge.
Jason Gillespie, whose three wickets in the series to date have cost an expensive 100 runs apiece, is in line to be dropped following the second Test at Old Trafford where Australia clung on for a draw with one wicket standing and his absence would create a seam bowling vacancy.
Uncapped speedster Tait, 22, who has the backing of legendary Australia quick Dennis Lillee, took two wickets and left opener Tim Roberts with a cut above his left eye from a bouncer during the recently drawn two-day warm-up game against Northamptonshire.
But Langer, captain in Ricky Ponting's absence at Wantage Road, made it clear he would prefer to see the experienced Kasprowicz recalled for the third Test, which starts on Thursday with the five-match series all square at 1-1.
The gutsy left-handed opening batsman said that with express paceman Lee already in the team, Australia needed to think hard about whether they also wanted to include a similar bowler in Tait amidst concerns that both men were as likely to be expensive as take wickets.
"It's really important, you always talk about balance. You've got someone like Brett Lee in your side, who's an out and out strike bowler, and he's got the pace - you've got to be careful you get the balance right."
Langer was particularly impressed by 33-year-old Kasprowicz's display against Northamptonshire, where the hard-working Queenslander took one for 43 from his 14 overs.
"That is the best Michael Kasprowicz has bowled all tour, he bowled quicker than he has, he seemed to have a lot more confidence, was tall at the crease and bowled very well,
"Shaun Tait in a way gave us what we were expecting him to give us. "He is a bit unpredictable, he bowls yorkers and bumpers, and having faced him in the last Pura Cup (Sheffield Shield) game last year and in the nets here I can say he is very uncomfortable to face.
"Whether the selectors decide for him to make his debut in he next Test, which will possibly be the biggest Test of our lives, only time will tell.
"Shaun is a bit like Shoaib Akhtar or in a way Brett Lee. He is obviously a strike bowler and a great prospect.
"But I have always said Michael Kasprowicz, in domestic cricket, is the hardest bloke to face. He always tends to go across the left-hander and that is always a handful."
Kasprowicz has had several comebacks during the course of his international career and is not the sort to get unduly flustered by a spell on the sidelines.
But having kept Lee out of the Test team in the 18 months prior to the Ashes, when he took 55 wickets in 16 matches, he might have had cause to feel aggrieved about being left out of the side for the first Test at Lord's, where Australia won by 239 runs.
Recalled for the second Test at Edgbaston, following McGrath's freak ankle injury before play on the first morning, he took three wickets and, as the last batsman, almost helped Lee guide Australia to victory in a match England won by two runs to level the series.
However, his batting heroics did not prevent him being dropped again.
But whoever is in the final XI, Langer said the team must collectively improve their performance if they are to avoid becoming the first Australia side in nine Ashes campaigns to lose a Test series against England.