Opinion | Ian Chappell >> The end of a spin era With the retirement of Stuart MacGill the age of Warne is officially at an end June 8, 2008 Warne and MacGill gave Australia its most successful legspin chapter since O'Reilly and Grimmett © Getty Images The retirement of Stuart MacGill has caused a lot of consternation in Australia. First there were rumours of a Shane Warne comeback and then rumblings that MacGill's decision was selfish. Well, of course it's selfish. The decision to retire is one that must rest with the person making the announcement. If MacGill is convinced he's had enough, then it's over. Warne's comments following a successful IPL campaign seemed pretty clear cut: "I don't know how many times I can say I'm happily retired. I'm in a good space at the moment.'' It's over. The Warne era in Australian cricket is finished and with MacGill also gone, it's time to unearth the next spinner, preferably of the wrist variety. It's easy to forget that before Warne debuted in 1992 many were lamenting the fact that Australia's spin bowling stocks closely resembled old Mother Hubbard's cupboard. Greg Matthews was hanging on by a thread, the short careers of Bob "Dutchy" Holland and Trevor Hohns were finished, and in his colourful columns Bill "Tiger" O'Reilly was castigating English administrators for killing off legspin. What followed was Australia's most successful era of legspin since the heady days when O'Reilly teamed up with the wily Clarrie Grimmett to mesmerise batsmen. Warne and MacGill toiled successfully for an amazing 916 Test victims and provided an incredible amount of entertainment. However, it's now time to look to the future. The main criticism of MacGill's announcement seems to be that it came in the middle of an overseas series. This is largely offset, though, by the fact that Australia did have a second spinner on tour. MacGill's retirement gives the left-arm chinaman bowler Beau Casson the opportunity to get a feel of Test cricket away from the glare of the home spotlight and in a more relaxed atmosphere with the Frank Worrell trophy already securely packed away ready for the long trip back to Australia. Having watched some of the leaden-footed West Indies batsmen and the recent inability of top-order players to pick Brad Hogg's wrong'un, the timing is perfect for Casson to boost his confidence. He has the best possible chance to get off to a good start at the international level. More important, Ricky Ponting has the chance to get a first-hand look at Casson's temperament in a Test match, and that's a huge plus for the Australian captain. Ponting has stated that Australia has "come back to the pack" recently, which shouldn't be earth-shattering news given the high-profile retirements of not only Warne and MacGill but also Glenn McGrath and Adam Gilchrist. Ponting has had to deal with more disruption to the Test side than any Australian captain since Allan Border and he's handled it extremely well.     Having watched some of the leaden-footed West Indies batsmen and the recent inability of top-order players to pick Brad Hogg's wrong'un, the timing is perfect for Casson to boost his confidence   Later this year he will embark on a demanding tour of India, which will be his greatest challenge yet. In a country where spin could play a crucial part in the result, any lead-up information Ponting can glean about one of his spin candidates has to be beneficial. If there are any nasty surprises awaiting Ponting, better he experiences them in the Caribbean rather than in Bangalore in the middle of the first Test. Casson's Australian first-class record has been cited as an indication he might struggle at international level. Well, Australia's first-class batsmen see more wrist-spin bowling than those from any other country, including India, and therefore they play it reasonably competently. Before people make too much of Casson's numbers, they should recall Warne's. For Victoria he averaged 34.73 compared with 25.42 at Test level; there was an even greater disparity between strike-rates: 73.63 against an exceptional 57.49 in the baggy green. Now no one is predicting Casson will replicate MacGill's achievements, let alone those of Warne. As far as the highly successful Warne and MacGill era is concerned, the fat lady has sung, the credits have rolled and stumps are drawn. It's over. It's time to look forward to the next era, whether it be provided by Casson or any of the other young spin candidates in Australia. © Cricinfo

 Read Comments (34)

	Email

Comments on this story

Comments have now been closed for this article

Read all 34 comments

Posted by bobagorof on June 11 2008, 01:48 AM GMT

Warne was an exceptional talent, and MacGill was a wonderful bowler - but traditionally Australia has not had a successful spin bowler. Besides those two, the last world-class spinner Australia has had was Benaud in the '60s, and before that O'Reilly and Grimmett in the '30s. Australia needs to expect that they won't have a world-class spinner for a while, and in the meantime pick the best performer from who they have and expect the odd contribution rather than consistent match winning performance.

Posted by Jeetu74 on June 10 2008, 18:44 PM GMT

I have no idea who Casson really is. But he seems to be Australia's next big hope according to Ian chappell. A new spinner against India is most probably a disaster waiting to happen. Although Australia still have a great pace attack and it should give cushion to a new spinner to sink in. If Casson or similar fails to live up then it will put too much pressure on Brett Lee and Stuart Clarke. Micheal Clarke and Andrew Symonds are good as part timers. They are not a option on Test Level at regular basis. Even other countries are struggling to find new spinners leave alone Australia. With Murali and Kumble on the wrong side of 30's , the great spinners era is about to end.

Posted by rnarayan on June 10 2008, 06:52 AM GMT

Assuming that Casson has the talent, what is going to be critical is that he has his captain's trust, and that initial expectations are realistic. He is very young at this level, and young spinners need time and confidence.Time to learn and confidence to come back after the occasional hammering he is sure to get.

Posted by Shervan on June 10 2008, 04:21 AM GMT

Stuart Was some what different form warne with slightly more round arm enables him to get bit more angle and spin.it is very unfortunate that he got very few chances in the presence of warne.Now after warne and MacGills retirement Australian cricket will feel a hole in its spin department.

Posted by quizbrain123 on June 10 2008, 01:07 AM GMT

McGill was a competent spinner no where in the Warne league... Maybe he was playing at the wrong time...but that is how life is... When India had Bedi, Prasanna n Co n when Windies had their battery of fast bowlers..there were quite a few talented players who missed the bus... Aussies will struggle.. Casson might not make an impact at least on Indian wickets....

Posted by uknsaunders on June 09 2008, 14:55 PM GMT

Even including the sub-continent, most test matches are now won by pace bowlers. Australia could do no worse than play 4 pace bowlers and use symonds/clarke when needed. Both are reasonable spinners and will take the odd wicket as well as bowling tidily. Obviously in India an extra spinner will be needed instead of a quickie, but warne never had a very good record in India and ponting shouldn't be loosing sleep about blooding a new spinner.

Posted by billybob67 on June 09 2008, 14:51 PM GMT

None of the current spinners at first class level in Australia are really world class. There is some hope for Beau Casson but they need to start playing him now. Cricket Australia needs to identify good young spinners currently playing grade cricket around the country and develop them.Problem with bowling spin is you need to play under a captain who knows how to use a spinner to attack not just as a work horse to hold up one end. Someone mentioned Cricket Australia's disturbing trend of debuting 30yr olds in the test team, good test players should start when in their early twenties or younger. They are starting them way too late.

Posted by BigRedCandle on June 09 2008, 12:31 PM GMT

There seem to be a lot of people talking about guys like Nathan Hauritz,Dan Cullen,Beau Casson,Daniel Doran,Cullen Bailey, and Xavier Doherty as possible spin replacements,these guys have been around for years and are barely holding on to their Pura Cup spots. A bowler averaging 50 is about as useful as a batsman averaging 20 The one thing that set MacGill and Warne apart from other spinners is that they were genuine strike bowlers with strike rates right up there with the best bowlers to have played the game, stats like that don't come around very often, it can take decades. By the time Warne was Beau Casson's current age he had taken 160 Test wickets including a hat-trick.

Posted by tupak on June 09 2008, 08:15 AM GMT

Why has MacGill a better Test average than State average? Because he only played when Australia needed another spinner to support Warnie (ie. a spinners wicket like the SCG). What is the future for Australia's spinners? Forget about Casson, Cullen, Bailey, McGain, Doherty etc - after Warnie, Australia's next best spinner is still greg mathews (ask him, he'll tell you so). One of the most under-rated players ever to wear the baggey-green and still a top player. Let him fill the gap until another spinner steps up and produces the goods.

Posted by syedaadi on June 09 2008, 08:13 AM GMT

Warne is still a hope for Australia and forget about his agenda focus on his performance. Australia do not have any international level spinner excluding Warne or MacGill and both are retired from international cricket. Warne showed his class recently in ipl who was captain of a young team rajisthan and given title to his team with his mind blowing captaincy. He can reconsider on his retirement and if he will came back to international cricket he will give a better performance like his past. aadi

Watch our daily Cricinfo SportsCenter news round-ups Available on Cricinfo.tv     Live scores, results, news, features and more - a click away Download the Cricinfo Toolbar     Live scores, news & ball-by-ball commentary on your phone Cricinfo Mobile