Googlies, kidnapping and cocaine charges – the wild story of Stuart MacGill

Many regard Stuart MacGill as one of the unluckiest cricketers in history. Despite taking 208 test wickets at under 30, his career aligned almost perfectly with Shane Warne’s meaning he never got the opportunities his talent arguably deserved. From there, things get a little crazy…

Born in Mount Lawley, Western Australia in 1971, MacGill came from a cricketing family. Both his father and grandfather had both represented WA at the state level.

From a young age, MacGill was trying to master the art of legspin, with prodigious spin throughout his youth cricket, this continued during his career. He was known as a bigger spinner of the ball than even Warne.

MacGill was spotted early, for a leg spinner, and given a scholarship to the Australian Institute of Sport where he played against New South Wales in 1991.

It took some time for MacGill to take the leap to the next level, appearing next in the 1996/97 season, now playing for New South Wales. He finished the season with 16 wickets at just over 36.

MacGill’s talent was obvious to Australian selectors, despite his relative lack of cricket. The Australian summer of 97/98 saw MacGill take 35 wickets at 28 and make his test debut.

MacGill’s early career with the national side was successful, taking bundles of wickets in Pakistan and a home Ashes series.

Most of MacGill’s opportunities were either coming alongside Shane Warne, or when Warne was unavailable, meaning he could never get out from the long shadow cast by Warne.

During Shane Warne’s drug ban in 2003, MacGill had a chance to be the main spinner for the test side, and he impressed, taking 53 wickets in 11 test matches.

He had been able to keep his place in the side after Warne’s return but a drop in form saw MacGill lose his spot in the team. He would never regain his place in the side until Warne’s retirement.

Throughout his career, MacGill was a wicket-taker, so much so that he holds the record as the fastest bowler in history to 150 wickets in terms of deliveries bowled.

MacGill retired from cricket in 2008 following a series in the West Indies. With the start of franchise T20 tournaments, MacGill unretired for the 2011/12 season to play for the Syndey Sixers in the Big Bash League.

MacGill was always outspoken during his career, refusing to play in Zimbabwe for moral reasons, speaking out against Cricket Australia’s sponsorship deal with KFC, and suing CA for not paying injury payments following his retirement, a matter that was settled out of court.

In April of 2021, MacGill was at the centre of an alleged kidnapping that saw the ex-legspinner bundled into a car by three men outside his home in Sydney. From there he was driven outside the city where the assailants tried to extort money from MacGill, including threatening to cut off his fingers.

Six men have been charged over the incident, with MacGill telling reporters he had done “nothing wrong” and that he was “just a victim”.

Some members of the group that abducted MacGill were linked to supplying cocaine and subsequently charged. In September 2023, MacGill himself was arrested and charged with supplying large quantities of cocaine.

Specifically, MacGill has been accused of selling 1kg of cocaine for $330,000 AUD  (£171k, ₹17.5m INR, $209k US) back in 2019. He has been granted strict conditional bail on the drug charge and will face a Sydney court again on 26 October 2023.