Australia use Pakistani asylum-seaker in nets to help batsmen prepare for South Africa's Imran Tahir His leg spin is bouncy, and I am like him, so it's good for the Australian batsmen to practise on my bowling. Ahmed will be in Brisbane as a net bowler ahead of the first Test starting on Nov 9, even though there is no guarantee South Africa - with their powerful pace line-up - will use Tahir at the Gabba. But Australian opener Ed Cowan, who pushed for Ahmed to be a net bowler, said it made sense to practise against him ahead of the contest against the world's No 1 Test side. "If you're looking to prepare for someone who would have been hard to replicate, you may as well get someone who, to the naked eye, seems pretty similar," Cowan told the Herald. Ahmed has previously said he was targeted by Muslim extremists in Pakistan because of his involvement in cricket, even receiving death threats because of the perception that the sport promotes Western values.