MacGill firms as curator predicts turn

The Bellerive Oval pitch will be well-suited to Stuart MacGill's legspin in the second Test against West Indies starting on Thursday, according to the groundsman. MacGill, who was passed over for the left-arm seamer Nathan Bracken in the first Test at Brisbane, is pushing for selection and the Hobart pitch is expected to be a turner.

Cameron Hodgkins, the Bellerive Oval curator, believes the surface will assist the spinners over the last days of the match. "I expect it to be slowish day one, day two and three," he said. "When it hardens up a bit the ball should come onto the bat a bit. And if it does go to four and five then you would expect, with the natural deterioration of the wicket, some variation and turn out of footholes."

MacGill has 169 wickets in 34 Tests at 27.78, averaging five wickets a match, and claimed nine victims in his last Test outing against the World XI last month in Sydney. MacGill, 34, has been deemed surplus to requirements to the national team over the years because of the availability of world record holder Shane Warne.

But even Warne has been championing MacGill's cause, saying he believes he and his spin partner can inflict more pain on the tourists. "If conditions suit down there, I'm sure we can do well like we have in the Super Test," Warne said last week. "Both of us are bowling better now than we have before."

The statistics show West Indies have a history of weakness facing legspin bowlers. Warne has captured 54 wickets in 17 Tests against West Indies at 30.18, while MacGill has 48 in 12 matches. If MacGill is included in the second Test team Bracken is the obvious choice for 12th man duties despite his impressive four-wicket haul in the second innings at the Gabba.