Lehmann supports MacGill for Test spot

MELBOURNE: Leg-spinner Stuart MacGill has found support from former Test cricketer Darren Lehmann as he fights for a place in the Australian team for the home series against Sri Lanka and India.
    
The 36-year-old tweaker is fighting to prove his body is still up to the rigours of Test cricket after a knee operation, but Lehmann rates him a 'certainty' to play.
    
"Definitely, he's the best leg spinner," Lehmann said about MacGill.
    
"You've got to play a spinner, you like the variation in your attack. He's still world-class and his stats stack up against any of the best leg-spinners who have played the game," he said.
    
MacGill has claimed 198 wickets in 40 Test matches so far at an average of 27.20 and an impressive strike rate of 51.5.
    
However, he did not pose much of a threat to the Indians when they last toured Australia for a Test series.
    
MacGill played in all four Tests for a dispiriting return of 14 wickets for 711 runs at 50.78.
    
However, the bowler has also found support from skipper Ricky Ponting who said MacGill was the 'obvious choice' to take over from Warne.
    
Ponting said the New South Wales bowler would have played a lot more Tests had Warne not been there and would have got got into Test teams of several other countries.
    
The leg-spinner has competition in the form of left-arm chinaman bowler Brad Hogg and off-spinner Dan Cullen for a place in the Test team. Hogg has returned from a successful one-day series in India.
    
The selectors may also consider fielding a four-man pace attack.