'The nail in the coffin was a misfield' - MacGill

Stuart MacGill has blamed his fielding for his decision to retire mid-way through Australia's tour to West Indies, after the second Test in Antigua.

"The nail in the coffin was a misfield [during the second Test]," MacGill told the Sydney Morning Herald. "There were some undulations in the outfield, and I misfielded and slipped over. I found it a bit hard to get back up, to be honest, and I felt a bit embarrassed.

"I felt sore and old and clumsy and that's when I thought, 'I can't do this.' I don't want the team to have to carry me. If the ball came straight to me in the field, there wasn't a problem. But the ball doesn't always come straight to you. I didn't want to embarrass myself any more."

When asked whether his sudden decision was embarassing, MacGill said: "I was concerned it would be. I did put in a lot of work to even play club cricket again. It was disappointing for me, but the embarrassment would have been if I'd kept going. There's no shame in wanting the best for your team."

MacGill, however, felt his selection for the West Indies tour hampered the chances of Bryce McGain, the 36-year-old legspinner from Victoria. "If I hadn't been fit for the tour, he might have been given a game," MacGill said. "That's just the way it goes."

MacGill responded to spin bowling coach Terry Jenner's call for him to retire from first-class cricket so that his New South Wales team-mates, Nathan Hauritz and Stephen Smith, get opportunities to make the playing XI. "I'm prepared to accept that sort of comment," he said. "But I think I have a lot to offer to New South Wales, and it's certainly not just on a statistical level.

"There aren't many wrist spinners floating around in world cricket and I think I've been one of the more successful ones, from a coaching point of view, too."

He also gave his take on the speculation that Shane Warne could come out of retirement to bolster Australia's spin bowling stock. "I'm sure he'd love to play Test cricket, as would I, but I don't think it's going to happen. I got a text message from Shane yesterday, and he certainly gave no indication he was going to be playing Test cricket again."