MacGill remains sanguine about Warne's return

The countdown to Shane Warne's return to action stands at eight days and media speculation is rife. Will he walk back into the Australian side? Will the lay-off have diminished his skills? Where does his return leave Stuart MacGill?

One person claiming not to be losing sleep over Warne's comeback is MacGill himself. But the pressure is on. This summer, in four Tests against India MacGill's 14 wickets have cost 50.78, and doubts have been concerned about his potency.

"The one misunderstanding most people have is that they think I care about the fact that Shane's coming back," MacGill told the Age. "I have no concern about that whatsoever. He's been playing since before I started playing state cricket, so the fact that he's absent or present makes no impact on me whatsoever."

MacGill's dismissal of Warne comes across as being just a little too nonchalant. But in case anyone had doubts, he added: "The other thing they don't seem to get is that I like him. I mean, it doesn't have to be a choice between Shane and I. That's what people seem to be doing: you either like Shane and hate Stuey, or you feel ambivalent towards Stuey and ambivalent towards Shane."

The crowds this summer have not been slow in making their feelings known, and at the SCG, MacGill's home soil, MacGill's discomfort was compounded with match-figures of 1 for 211. "It's just disappointed me a bit, I guess," he admitted, referring to barracking from the Sydney public which intensified when he spilt two catches. "I'm comfortable in the knowledge that it's a vocal minority. But I'd be lying if I said it was water off a duck's back."

In his defence, MacGill ended the series against India as Australia's leading wicket-taker, and in a series where the bat dominated the ball. But the wickets came at a cost. "I feel that if I bowled to the best players of spin bowling in the world, I bowled very well," he told the Age. "I wasn't as potent as I would like to have been but I kept them quiet through great periods of time, and that's something a lot of guys haven't been able to do."

Opinions are divided as to how much Warne's enforced lay-off will have taken its toll. Some have said it will take no more than a few weeks for him to dust off the cobwebs, others - most volubly Mike Atherton - believe that Warne will be a shadow of his former self.

And there is also a belief that the Australian attack has room for both Warne and MacGill. "They are quite different in way they go about their bowling," explained former selector John Benaud. "You could easily imagine a batting side say they are going to prop on this one and see if they can score at the other end. Sometimes their extra risk is the cause of their downfall. If between them they get the sides out, who cares who gets the wickets?"

But even if Warne is fast-tracked back, MacGill is confident he will be making the trip to Sri Lanka. "I expect to be on the tour and I'm sure I'll play a big part in that tour. I'll be a better bowler, simply because I've got four more Tests under my belt. You can't help but come out of it better if you put things into perspective. If you allow things to get to you, that's a different situation, but I'm pretty good like that."