MacGill aims to outlast Warne

Stuart MacGill believes that he will outlast Shane Warne and become Australia's leading spinner in a few years. MacGill didn't foresee any challenges from the younger generation of spinners and felt that he had done enough to get more chances alongside Warne in the Australian team.

"Who says the young generation of spin bowlers is going to make it?" MacGill asked while speaking to The Australian. "I honestly believe now I've proven to myself and I've proven to people who count that I can do it. I might outlast them all, and that's my major goal. I want to show that not only can I do it right now, but I'm going to be able to do it for an extended period of time, long after Shane's gone.

"I've got plenty of time in me," MacGill added. "I want to be the next spinner after Shane Warne's gone and I don't know when that's going to be. It might be sooner rather than later. That's the No.1 thing for me now. I'm not panicking about there not being any spinners behind me because I'm not going anywhere."

MacGill starred in Australia's nine-wicket victory in the final Test against Pakistan at Sydney, where he was named the Man of the Match, and reiterated that the success of playing Shane Watson as a medium-pace option should create more opportunities for Australia to play two spinners in the future. "He [Watson] did a great job with the ball, stuck around and had a 50 partnership with the bat. Warney and I both got wickets. Gilly [Adam Gilchrist] made a hundred at the elevated batting position. We all did OK and that was probably the most important thing for me: to prove that the experiment worked."

Ricky Ponting, though, claimed that MacGill was unlikely to play a Test in Australia's forthcoming tour of New Zealand and he is likely to get a chance only if needed in the last moment. MacGill, though, strongly opposed that tactic. "I think that flying someone in for a Test match is incredibly unfair to them," he said. "Over the years, I think I've done a pretty good job at popping in at the last moment. I'd like to think I'm as calm and collected as they come, but you're going to get nervous. All of a sudden you're being thrust into a situation that you haven't factored into your next week.

"Sometimes it's unavoidable in case of injury; if you can possibly avoid it you should do everything you can to make sure the player has been in the team group, has practised in the conditions he's going to be coming up against, has watched first-hand the opposition. It just gives him the best chance.

MacGill also hit out at his detractors who have criticised him over the years. "Everyone compares me with Shane in terms of bad balls. I bowl a few more, but that's because I try to give absolutely everything on every ball I bowl. I'm going to bowl a couple more. In books I've read about the great spin bowlers of the past. They've bowled a bit of rubbish every now and then and nobody seemed to worry about it. All of a sudden it's against the law to bowl a half-tracker. That being the case I break the law regularly, but I have good numbers."