It was a cruel, cruel joke of fate that Stuart MacGill had to share space and time with a maverick genius called Shane Warne. Hence, one of the best leg-spinners of his era, certainly the most complete and classical considering the weaponry of a huge leg-break and a superb googly, played only a handful of Test matches.
Yet, in the limited opportunities that came his way, when Warne was out treating injuries or being disciplined, or in the rare games in which they were allowed to bowl in tandem, MacGill did manage to carve a niche for himself that remains glittering in its own right.
The 44 Tests saw him pick up 208 wickets, with an average of 29 that revealed the only weakness of his — the propensity of sending down one boundary ball per over. However, his strike rate reads a staggering 54.0. It is better than any spinner in history with hundred or more wickets, barring the pre-World War One trio of Bobby Peel, Colin Blythe and Johnny Briggs. He captured wickets faster than even the demonic Muttiah Muralitharan, and consumed three and a half balls less per dismissal than Warne.
In those 44 Tests were squeezed in 12 five-wicket hauls and two ten-fors. And against the spin-seasoned Pakistanis, he captured 23 wickets in four Tests at 25 apiece — a testimony to his class.
An endearing, old fashioned, rabbit with the bat, he was as unlike an Aussie cricketer as one could get. In the midst of hard-core beer drinking mates, he stuck out like a sore thumb as a wine connoisseur. Yet he managed to become one of the cherished and respected members of a great, great team.
And in spite of being an exact contemporary of Warne, he did enough to be counted as one of the long line of excellent leg-spin googly bowlers produced by the land, starting from Ranji Hordern, to Arthur Mailey, to Clarrie Grimmett and Bill O'Reilly, to Richie Benaud and finally Shane Warne himself. It is a pity that the selectors favoured the three pacers and one spinner combination, and not for the fascinating spin-twin in the lines of Grimmett-O'Reilly. If their outlook had been different, one can only wonder what MacGill would have ended up with.
Arunabha Sengupta
Career | M | In | R | NO | HS | Avg | BF | SR | 100s | 50s | 4s | 6s | Ct | St |
Test | 44 | 47 | 349 | 11 | 43 | 9.694 | 715 | 48.81 | 0 | 0 | 38 | 2 | 16 | 0 |
ODIs | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1.000 | 3 | 33.33 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
T20s | 0 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | |
World Cup | 0 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
Career | M | B | R | W | Avg | EC | SR | 5WI | 10WM | BBI | BBM |
Test | 44 | 11237 | 6038 | 208 | 29.02 | 3.224 | 54. | 12 | 2 | 8/108 | 12/107 |
ODIs | 3 | 180 | 105 | 6 | 17.50 | 3.500 | 30.00 | 0 | 0 | 4/19 | 4/19 |
T20s | 0 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
World Cup | 0 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 4/19 |
Test Debut
Australia v South Africa at Adelaide Oval, Adelaide, January 30, 1998
Last Test
West Indies v Australia at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, North Sound, May 30, 2008
ODI Debut
Australia v Pakistan at Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, January 19, 2000
Last ODI
Australia v India at Adelaide Oval, Adelaide, January 26, 2000
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IND 338/7 OVERS: 73.0
Sri Lanka vs Australia - 2nd Test
08 Jul, 2022 10:00 IST | 04:30 GMT
Galle International Stadium, Galle
10 Jul, 2022 15:00 IST | 09:30 GMT
Titwood, Glasgow
11 Jul, 2022 15:00 IST | 09:30 GMT
Cambusdoon New Ground, Ayrshire
13 Jul, 2022 15:00 IST | 09:30 GMT
Titwood, Glasgow
14 Jul, 2022 15:00 IST | 09:30 GMT
Titwood, Glasgow
Sri Lanka vs Australia - 1st Test
Australia beat Sri Lanka by 10 wickets
India beat Ireland by 4 runs
England vs New Zealand - 3rd Test
England beat New Zealand by 7 wickets
India beat Ireland by 7 wickets
Zimbabwe vs Afghanistan - 5th T20I
Match over