Ex-Test cricketer fails to quash coke supply conviction

A former Australian Test cricketer has failed to overturn a drug supply conviction for a cocaine deal that led to assault.

Former leg-spinner Stuart MacGill was a regular cocaine user when he introduced his dealer to another man in April 2021.

The 55-year-old man knew the amount of cocaine exchanged was worth $330,000 but did not know the exact weight after being told the dealer wanted “a brick”.

He was found guilty in May 2025 of being involved in the supply of 250 grams or less of cocaine and was sentenced to a 22-month intensive corrections order and 495 hours of community service.

But the former cricket star appealed against both the conviction and sentence in the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal, which was rejected on Wednesday.

“The appeal is dismissed,” Judge Anthony Payne told the court more than a year after the sentence was handed down.

MacGill argued the judge made a mistake in determining the exact amount of drugs he thought the cricketer had been exchanged for during the deal.

He didn’t get any of the $330,000 from the exchange, but his $1,000 drug debt was wiped out by his dealer.

The deal led to MacGill being attacked in a dilapidated rural shed after his dealer stole two bricks of cocaine in a later drug heist.

Once regarded as one of the best spin bowlers in the world, MacGill now works as a casual cricket coach on JobSeeker.

He retired from cricket in 2008 after a career curtailed by the sport’s best leg-spinner, Shane Warne, two years his senior.

MacGill played 44 Tests and claimed 208 wickets at an average of 29.02.