McGain eyes Champions League after Essex stint

Bryce McGain's time with Essex might have been cut short by the return of Danish Kaneria, but Victoria's legspinner is already looking ahead to his next big challenge. A shoulder injury to Jon Holland means McGain could become Victoria's No. 1 spinner for the Champions League Twenty20 in South Africa next month, where they will also be without their captain Cameron White.

McGain, 38, has not played a Twenty20 match since January 2009 as the younger Holland was preferred in the short format, and he will battle with the offspinning allrounder Glenn Maxwell for the slow-bowling position. South Africa was the venue of McGain's Test debut, when he took 0 for 149 and copped the brunt of some fine batting, but he said 18 months on he was simply excited to be heading back there.

"One not so good day in terms of your bowling figures doesn't scar you at all," McGain said. "I've moved on. I think I've improved since then, and it's a different format of the game as well, different circumstances, different players, different strategies. It was something I learnt from but now I'm just excited to get back over there.

"They might go down the path of Glenn Maxwell, who bowled quite well in some one-day games at the end of last year. If I can do that role it would be great. I would love to play on that stage, play against the best players there are."

One of those opponents will be Victoria's regular leader, White, who was contractually tied to Royal Challengers Bangalore, and could face his state colleagues if both sides progress past the group stage. In the absence of White, Victoria will be captained by David Hussey, who has scored more Twenty20 runs than anyone else in the world.

"It would be great to have our captain, he's probably in the top five Twenty20 players in the world," McGain said. "He's been phenomenal for the Bushrangers. He is a loss but our line-up is very experienced all the way through. Dave Hussey will be a great captain, he's been over here captaining Notts and his captaincy is equally as good as Cameron's.

"There are obviously things that he'll share with his team ... but there's no great secrets about what Victoria do, tactically. Our success has just been around executing the basics more consistently than our opposition."

McGain will be well warmed up for the tournament, having spent three weeks with Essex as the replacement for the Pakistan legspinner Kaneria. McGain was popular at the club and the fans came up with a chant to support him: 'Bryce, Bryce, your bowling's quite nice, they're gonna need some batting advice'. However, when Kaneria was released from the Test squad, it spelled the end of McGain's first taste of county cricket.

His stay might have been brief, but it was also personally successful, as he collected 10 wickets at 26.00 in his only two first-class appearances, including a five-for in his first game for Essex. While he said he couldn't have been happier with his performances, he will face a different challenge come the start of the Sheffield Shield season in October.

The emergence of the young left-armer Holland, who has played for Australia A, will keep the pressure on the older McGain to hold his place in the first-class team. McGain grabbed 26 wickets at 32.50 in the Sheffield Shield last summer, but on a couple of occasions was overlooked for Holland, and he knows that staying ahead of a promising 23-year-old will be hard work.

"At times it's a little frustrating, especially when you get a little run of form but you find yourself not in the team," McGain said. "But having said that, that's part of a good competitive squad. I don't mind doing my role for Victorian cricket and if that involves helping to develop someone else, that's good as well. I'm happy to do that.

"It's out of my hands, I can't control that part of it. I want to play for a few years yet. Physically I'm certain I can do that. There's always something to learn - spending a couple of days with Danish [Kaneria] it was great to learn a couple of things that he does, and I'll keep exploring new things."

For now, that means the Champions League and renewing his Twenty20 career.