Shane Warne has denied that he has any problems playing in the same side as fellow legspinner Stuart MacGill. Press reports indicated that Warne was unhappy with the recall of MacGill for the first Test against South Africa starting on Friday (Dec 14), but Warne denied that there was any animosity between them.

"Certain people seem to think there's some big rift between myself and Stuey," Warne said. "I don't know where that has come from. There's never been a rift between myself and Stuey. We've always got along. We've helped each other out with a few things, there's no drama whatsoever."

In the five matches the pair have played together, MacGill has far the better record with 24 wickets compared with Warne's seven. "The Test matches we played together, my first few back were straight after my major shoulder operation," said Warne, "so I probably wasn't anywhere near my best."

MacGill's recall surprised many who believed that his international career might be over following some well-publicised spats with the authorities. But selector Trevor Hohns expressed confidence that MacGill's problems were behind him. "He's been spoken to and we expect Stuart to get in there and do his job. We're confident he can do his job for Australia, but he has to fit in, not everyone fit in around him."

Australia have rarely fielded two specialist spinners recently, and they are unlikely to do so at Adelaide. According to the groundsman the pitch will not give any great assistance to slow bowlers, which means that MacGill's comeback will have to be put on ice for the time being.

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