MacGill unlikely for next Pura Cup match

Stuart MacGill may have to delay his comeback to first-class cricket to help his recovery from wrist surgery after sending down barely one over in his first training session since the operation. MacGill had been hoping to play for New South Wales in their Pura Cup match against Western Australia at the SCG starting next Friday but he now concedes he is unlikely to be ready that soon.

"I would be very, very surprised if I play in that game," MacGill told the Sydney Morning Herald. "It might take a little bit longer than I hoped for to get back out in the middle." He was speaking after completing his first, albeit brief, net session with the Blues following an operation on his bowling hand in early December.

If he does not make it into the squad for next week's game it would leave him with only a couple of matches to prove his fitness before Australia's tour of Pakistan, assuming that visit goes ahead. MacGill's next chance to get some overs under his belt in a Pura Cup match would be when New South Wales host Victoria from February 15.

He said he had no regrets about playing in the two Tests against Sri Lanka in November, even though he struggled with a knee injury and numbness in his bowling hand during the second match. "In the morning, over the last 18 months or so, when I'd wake up my hands would be completely numb," MacGill said. "Even walking around the house was causing me some discomfort - to come back and play a couple of Tests was ambitious."

MacGill is still hoping to force his way back into the Test team and he might take heart from Australia's decision to overlook Brad Hogg for the ongoing Perth Test. However, he concedes that his chances of wearing the baggy-green again hinge not only on his own comeback but on the performance of his fellow slow bowlers.

"I see no reason for me not to eventually play for Australia again, I'm not prepared to put a time on it, because it depends on how other people play as well," MacGill said. "It doesn't matter how well I bowl if the incumbent is going great guns. All I'm going to do is make sure I get back to where I'm happy."