MacGill retires from domestic one-dayers

Stuart MacGill has announced he will stop playing one-dayers for New South Wales to give fellow spinners Nathan Hauritz and Jason Krejza a chance to make it to Australia's side for next year's World Cup. He wrote a letter to the NSW board to confirm his decision.

MacGill, 35, has been taking the spinner's spot in both forms of the game for NSW, so in stepping aside he will give 25-year-old Hauritz, NSW's new recruit, the opportunity for match practice. Krejza, a useful 23-year-old offspinner, will also have improved claims at pressing for matches.

"Currently in NSW we have two young spin-bowling allrounders that I firmly believe could make significant contributions to Australia's defence of the World Cup," he wrote, "and deserve to be given the opportunity to press for selection.

"Nathan Hauritz has made an enormous impression on and off the field since moving from Queensland and has improved his game immeasurably in a very short time. [...]They have both shown a great capacity to take wickets in one-day cricket so I am sure that sooner rather than later their performances for NSW will be rewarded by the national selectors."

With 124 victims, MacGill is the most successful bowler in domestic one-dayers in Australia, but he says he has realised his days at the top level in the short form of the game were over. In fact, he has only played three ODIs for Australia, all of them in 2000, because he was perceived as expensive, with an economy rate of 4.98 in all ODIs, compared to 3.39 in first-class.

He wouldn't rule out a comeback for the state side in limited-overs cricket should he need to provide cover if Hauritz and Krejza do get the international call-up.