It is a sobering reminder for selectors as they contemplate whether to hand Stephen O'Keefe a baggy green cap next week against Pakistan.

Although O'Keefe kept his name in the frame by capturing three wickets in Australia's tour game against Pakistan A, selectors will be wary of the poor recent record when playing more than one spinner.

Not since Warne and Stuart MacGill spun out South Africa at home in 2006 have Australia won a Test against a nation other than Bangladesh with the strategy.

The side has also failed to win each of its past six Tests fielding spin twins – all with different combinations – after five losses and a draw.

But in O'Keefe's favour, his first-class record of 131 wickets at just less than 25 is superior to the spinners tried in those Tests – Glenn Maxwell, Xavier Doherty, Michael Beer, Cameron White and Jason Krejza, and even the incumbent, Nathan Lyon.

O'Keefe and Lyon also have experience bowling together at first-class level, combining five times last summer for NSW.

Although Lyon has been Australia's No.1 spinner in that time, O'Keefe has often returned better figures than his senior teammate after 17 wickets at 24 compared with Lyon's 13 at 42.5.

O'Keefe's prospects of making his debut next week will hinge on the state of the wicket at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

The venue's curator, Australian Tony Hemming, is known for preferring to prepare pace-friendly wickets and said last month the quicks would be better suited than the spinners. But Hemming has handed control of the ground to the Pakistan Cricket Board, which is hosting the series in the neutral venue.

In a clue to what Australia's chairman of selectors, Rod Marsh, may do next week, Australia played Lyon and Doherty along with spin-bowling all-rounder Maxwell in a one-day international in Dubai last week.

O'Keefe enhanced his claims to a Test berth by claiming 3-76 off 23 overs on the first day of Australia's only tour match before the first Test, while Lyon was wicketless with 0-68 from 19 overs.

O'Keefe paid credit to Muttiah Muralitharan, Test cricket's leading wicket-taker, for his encouraging performance on an unresponsive surface in Sharjah.

"It was a pretty dead track," O'Keefe said. "However, I think subtle variations, particularly stuff I've worked with Murali through the week, have really helped out. I think you've got to expect that, don't you, on a day when the pitch [doesn't have much]. You've just got to nickel and dime it, and find a wicket.

"Your main thing on these sort of wickets is you have to be hitting the stumps, give yourself a chance. And then the rest is moving around the crease, cross-seam can be quite effective on these wickets, given that the ball can skip off sometimes and bounce maybe if it hits the seam. I think that's what Murali has been invaluable with, those sorts of variations.

"I still think there's a lot to work on. That's the aim of the game, to get wickets. Particularly as a spinner on day one, you can certainly help the quicks out and try to go for less than two or three [runs an over] – I probably went a bit expensive towards the end. But to get three of their top seven out, I'll take a lot out of that."