Wisden overview
Stuart MacGill is the Bill Ponsford of his time. A legspinner who gets plenty of turn, bowls a mean wrong'un, takes wickets at the rate of five a Test and was man of the 1998-99 Ashes series in Australia, he would be thought the best of his type in the world ... were it not for Shane Warne. At least Ponsford was not fighting Don Bradman for one place. MacGill, son and grandson of Western Australian players (although he plays for New South Wales himself), is a personable but temperamental character who frequently treads on the toes of authorities, opponents and sensibilities. To improve his humour, he collects wine. Warne's drug ban meant that MacGill went to the West Indies in April 2002 as the first-choice Test spinner for the first time at the age of 32. It could be the making - or breaking - of him. Greg Baum

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