Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon believes he is no certainty to be selected for the Fourth Test against India at Adelaide Oval starting on Tuesday.
A denser-than-usual green coverage on the traditionally benign surface is the main reason behind Lyon's doubts.
"There's still a fair amount of grass on there so we're not sure what the squad's going to be yet," he said.
"They may go with four quicks again."
"We'll just have to wait and see what Pup (captain Michael Clarke) and (coach) Mickey (Arthur) come up with."
"It's a great opportunity for me to hopefully come out here against the Indians come Tuesday, but if the nod doesn't go my way, I'm pretty sure the boys will be able to get the job done."
Despite his concerns, Lyon, who missed the Third Test rout at the WACA, is heavily favoured to play his first Test in front of his adopted home crowd - likely at the expense of either Ryan Harris or Mitchell Starc - given the ground's reputation for favouring spinners on days four and five.
A former member of Adelaide Oval's groundstaff, Lyon hasn't had a chat with head curator Damian Hough about possibly preparing a spin-friendly bunsen burner, but the 24-year-old did speak with Shane Warne on Thursday at the conclusion of the Adelaide-Melbourne Stars Twenty20 Big Bash clash at the MCG.
Warne first worked with Lyon in 2010 at the National Centre of Excellence while the off-spinner was still playing Canberra grade cricket.
"I had a brief chat to Warney on the field after the Strikers v Stars game, which was fantastic," Lyon said.
"He's a legend of the sport and the best spin bowler in the world. I got a few good little things from him."
Around this time 12 months ago, Lyon was helping prepare the Adelaide deck for the Ashes Test against England and was utilised as a net bowler when the Australians were training.
Plucked from relative obscurity last August, Lyon snared Sri Lankan great Kumar Sangakkara with his first ball in Test cricket en route to a maiden five-wicket haul at Galle.
But he has hit a stumbling block this series, claiming just two Indian wickets - tail-enders Umesh Yadav and Ishant Sharma - at a bloated average of 90.
Eighy six of the 94 wickets to have been taken by both sides this series have fallen to the pacemen, with the slow bowlers having played just a bit part.
"In this series against the Indians, our quicks have been doing the damage," Lyon said. "I haven't had the opportunity to bowl long spells and there's been a couple of short Test matches."
"Hopefully if I get the nod here, I'll be able to bowl a few long spells."
Plying his trade against some of the world's most prolific and renowned craftsmen against slow bowling has been a tremendous learning curve for Lyon, who believes he has improved as a tweaker despite copping some stick from the tourists.
"It's been a great challenge for myself being a young spinner, bowling against the best batters against spin," he said. "Their hands are unbelievable and they're really confident against spin."
"The Indians are a great side to play against and even though we're up 3-0, we're expecting India to come out and hit us hard, so it's going to be another great challenge."
"I'm pretty positive this one's going to go five days and it's going to be a hard tussle for us."