Melbourne: Sri Lankan spin wizard Muthiah Muralitharan has advised Australian selectors to sack Stuart MacGill and select a young slow bowler in his place.

Muralitharan, who is on the verge of usurping Shane Warne's world record tally of 708 wickets in the upcoming three-Test home series against England, said the spin bowling position was the only obvious weakness in the current Australian side, and described MacGill as "not the bowler he used to be."

Statistically, Muralitharan endured a worse series than MacGill, returning combined figures of 4-400 from the two Test matches, as opposed to the Australian's 5-396.

Neither were assisted by the pitch conditions in Brisbane and Hobart, and both were pitted against batting line-ups adept at playing spin bowling.
Nevertheless, the off-spinner believes he has seen enough from MacGill over the past two Tests to suggest his best days were behind him.

"MacGill is struggling with injury and he is 36,which is even older than me," Muralitharan was quoted as saying in The Age. "It might not be my department to say, but I think Australia should look to the long term. They should look for a spinner who will be there for the next 10 years, not one who will be there for one or two years.

"He is not the bowler he used to be. Some of that will be because of the injury, but some of it is age. It is not easy for him" he said.

Source : PTI