MacGill ready for Test comeback

Stuart MacGill has emphatically declared that he is ready for a comeback, which may be on the cards with Australia facing injury problems, and feels he has a good chance of dismissing the dangermen Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen.

MacGill, 34, is hoping to get a chance in the third Test at Old Trafford, which traditionally aids spinners, and was looking forward to bowling alongside Shane Warne. "I'm as ready as I could be," MacGill told AAP, "and probably as ready as I would be if I was in the same situation in Australia. Probably the only thing I'm short of now is a game."

MacGill, who has a fantastic record against England with 39 wickets at 24.72 in six Tests, said he had often struggled against batsmen whose sole intention was to stonewall and was happy that England were taking the attacking approach. "They're [Flintoff and Pietersen] going to try and make sure that they're keeping the scoreboard ticking over and they're going to try and hit me out of the attack," he said. "That means for me, much in the way I guess if you bowl to Brian Lara, I always feel I'm a chance of getting him out because he always keeps coming at you. I think those two guys will fall into this category."

He also said Andrew Strauss, who was undone by two ripping legspinners from Warne at Edgbaston, had to work more on his game despite a prolific start to Test cricket. "It's a very difficult job facing the ball as a left-hander when you're facing every single delivery and the pitches are turning fast," he said. "It's a shame there are not some more lefties in their team."

Though he has never cemented his place in the Australian side, owing largely to Warne's presence, MacGill has played an influential role in some Australian triumphs. He even has a better record than Warne in the nine matches they have played together: MacGill has 44 wickets at 23.56 while Warne had 38 scalps in those games at an average of 31.92. Click here for a comparison between the two.