Stuart MacGill slams selectors for not picking spinner at SCG for first time in 140 years
With Nathan Lyon injured, Australia were expected to select Murphy for the first Test on home soil. Instead, they selected three fast bowlers and two all-rounders, Cameron Green and Beau Webster.
“A well-meaning former spin bowling colleague of mine said: [recently] The wickets have changed since I played. My favorite surface to bowl on in Australia was the Gabba,” MacGill said.
Stuart MacGill (left) celebrates a wicket for Australia in 2005.Credit: Getty Images
“Don’t give me that SCG non-conversion nonsense. Sure, I’ve played on some pitches where there was no grass, but in the best conversion in the Shield match at the SCG, the pitch was like carpet.”
“I think all the bowlers in Australia are angry. Some of the fastest bowlers in Test history said they should have had a spin bowler in this Test match.
“As for the spin bowling association, we are only worried about BBL and IPL. [Twenty20 competitions]We are taking all the wickets. “We are putting bread on the table of batsmen all over the world and they seem to have forgotten that.”
MacGill pointed to the game’s greatest wicket-takers as proof that spin can be successful anywhere.
Todd Murphy missed out on selection in Australia’s XI for the final Ashes Test at the SCG. Credit: Getty Images
“Who are the best two-wicket takers in Australian Quiz history?” he asked. “[Shane] Warne and Lyon. The most in testing history? [Muthiah Muralidaran with 800] We are the ones taking the wicks on every surface. As Warnie always says, ‘What goes around comes around’. If you tell me there is too much grass on the wicket and therefore it is not good for a bowler, I will put you in the same box as the current selectors.
“I will still coach spin bowlers to deceive batsmen in the air. It’s not off the field. You can’t beat Joe Root or Steve Smith off the field; it’s in the air.”
MacGill, who has a lower Test bowling average than Warne at the SCG, said the spin king would be “out of his mind” over the absence of a spin bowler in the Test side.
“He would be very worried,” MacGill said. “There will be no spin bowlers playing Test cricket unless we change our attitude towards them. It’s ridiculous.”
“That’s the attitude that hurts me the most. If you’re going to be fair about winning a game, you need options.”
“The people who take wickets in the shorter forms of the game are wrist spin bowlers and yet for some reason we think they are ineffective on all surfaces in Test cricket.
“When Harry Brook started to go [hard] The first day, I would immediately bring a spinner. We have plenty of stock; There are a lot of good bowlers in NSW and around the country.
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“Obviously, no one in the Australian camp thinks Travis Head is a spin bowler. They’re not going to bowl to him very much and that’s ridiculous.”
The SCG has been the toughest Test venue for spinners, averaging 49 wickets in the last five years.
MacGill said slow bowlers were no longer getting the respect they deserve after Queensland leg-spinner Mitch Swepson said it was “sucky” not to be selected as a specialist spinner in Sydney.
“The writing was on the wall at the beginning of the year Nathan died. [Lyon] He was playing for NSW and Tanveer [Sangha] MacGill said: “For some reason they decided Tanveer was just a white-ball cricketer and that’s not true. He should have played with Nathan in their NSW team. If so, he could be our spin bowler in this Test match.”
“He bowled an absolute away game against Queensland and took three wickets. We have to show respect. On a flat deck, fast players don’t want to bowl. We take all the pressure.
“It requires a full review.”
