Stuart MacGill's Postcards

MONDAY 20 November 2000
Stuart MacGill on the opportunities presented by a new summer

Several weeks ago when I was approached by CricInfo to contribute regularly to this site as a member of the New South Wales squad, I had no idea of what the season held for me. NSW has had a few lean years, and this year we had the services of all Australian representatives for the first three Pura Cup matches. First and foremost in my mind, and in the minds of our entire squad, was maximizing the benefits of having this resource at our disposal in order to provide the younger players with a great launching pad to a successful year. Our new state coach, Steve Rixon, had budgeted on fourteen points from those three games, and with the world class team that we were fielding, it looked well within our reach. As it transpired, we had an inspiring victory in Victoria and a very solid performance to steal two from the Tasmanians at Bellerive Oval. Unfortunately a regular player in recent NSW summers popped up again for our clash against the Redbacks at Bankstown Oval, and not a ball was bowled due to the damage caused to the square by the torrential rain.

My own summer had started according to plan with a fair return in our first two Mercantile Mutual matches - each of which we won. After having played a peripheral role in Australian cricket over the past few seasons, I had resolved to become a far more serious contender for the spin bowling spot in the Australian team. Looking back on my most successful seasons, I have always enjoyed the challenge of taking wickets, no matter what grade of cricket I was playing. I believe that unless you are getting the runs on the board, or the wickets in my case, you have no right to expect a Baggy Green. Last season, even though I felt that at times I bowled well for small returns, I failed to bowl teams out. I spent my off season preparing myself to do just that for NSW in 2000/2001. I think that the sign of a good player is the way that they dominate the levels below that to which they aspire. For me to apply pressure on Shane Warne and Colin Miller for a place in the touring squads to India and for the Ashes, I had to be a major contributor for the Blues this season.

An opportunity presented itself a lot sooner than these tours, though. Some members of the press asked me if I was excited or secretly pleased when Shane Warne broke his spinning finger whilst taking a catch to remove Mark Waugh. I must admit I was a little sickened that anyone could think that I could be anything but upset watching a potentially career threatening injury to one of Australia's cricket champions. I doubt whether a formula one driver would be happy to see the world champion crash into a wall so that he could take over the lead, and I am no different.

I am now sitting in my hotel room in Brisbane, preparing for what will be my first Test since Australia regained the Sir Frank Worrell Trophy in Antigua last year. I am no certainty to play, as the pitch is slightly different to those usually found at the Gabba, and the weather has been ideal for fast bowlers to have a field day. This won't interrupt my usual pre-match routines though, and I must admit that I am getting very excited. It is at times like these that you have to trust your instincts and know that your training and patience will be rewarded in the end. I'll probably cross my fingers as well.

Stuart MacGill