Cricket: MacGill waiting in the wings

SYDNEY - When Shane Warne gets injured, Stuart MacGill gets talked about.

Cricket fans now expect MacGill to be called up and the player himself accepts he will only substitute for Warne in his own stop-start test career.

However, it has happened so often that national selection chairman Trevor Hohns is tired of talking about it, yesterday refusing to be drawn into debate on MacGill's future following news of Warne's latest injury.

It was just coincidence that when news of Warne's broken thumb came through, Hohns was the selector on duty at the Sydney Cricket Ground for the Pura Cup match between New South Wales and Western Australia.

With Warne no certainty to start in the first test against New Zealand at the Gabba in just over two weeks, MacGill will come into contention for selection after being overlooked for the tour to India.

But Hohns wasn't looking that far ahead, preferring to wait and see how quickly Warne recovered.

"I'm not specifically having a look at Stuey. We know what Stuey can do," Hohns said yesterday.

But he did admit to seeing a new side of MacGill in the form of a disciplined batting display.

MacGill has long been a swing-and-hope batsman but he showed remarkable composure and a reasonable defensive technique in batting for almost three hours alongside Dominic Thornely as the pair added 219 for the 10th wicket in Sydney.

MacGill made 27 and Thornely finished on 261 not out.

"It was a wonderful effort and all credit to Stuart MacGill for sticking around," Hohns said.

Any improvement in MacGill's batting can only help his selection chances, but Hohns was not ready to push the panic button over Warne just yet.

"We don't know the full of extent of Warney's injury, but hopefully in a couple weeks he'll be okay."

- AAP