MacGill's admission

Stuart MacGill, who apparently stands a good chance to play the Old Trafford test, reckons that playing for Nottinghamshire a few seasons ago saved his career and made him a better bowler. He says:

"Previously, when I bowled a bad ball I would get very down and allow my confidence to dip. Now if I bowl a bad ball I really don't care and just focus on the next delivery. I have a picture in my mind of what I'm aiming to do and, until I get it right, it will stay there."

I think I'd rephrase that to:

"Previously, when I bowled a bad ball I would get very down and allow my confidence to dip. Now if I bowl a bad ball I really don't care and just bowl another one."

Personally, I think he is pretty over-rated as a test match level quality leg-spinner. I know Warne changed the rules of the game when he brought in his immense control along with his drift and spin. Perhaps MacGill would have survived in a different era. The reason the likes of Warne and Kumble have played as many tests and got over 1000 test wickets between them is they are so parsimonious and are always after you. I've seen MacGill bowl a few times and he always had this hangdog look about him, more so after he'd been thrashed around. He bowls one ball per over which screams 'hit me' as it lands at the half-way point on the pitch. You look at his stats and you immediately wonder about the numbers against India and Sri Lanka. I'm surprised he concedes less runs an over against India than Sri Lanka. He feasts on Bangladesh, as does every other bowler. Even though he averages 32 and gives away 3 an over against West Indies, I'm willing to bet that number changes when Lara or Hooper are batting.

I'm fairly sure that if Australia do pick him for Old Trafford, the number of four balls he gives away, unless of course he has dramatically improved his bowling, could be quite critical. Plus if Australia are really considering bringing in Shane Watson, then he could be thrown the ball more often than MacGill if the latter leaks runs by the bucketful.

Labels: ashes, ashes 2005, macgill