September 14, 2008	Sunday	Ramazan 13, 1429

BRISBANE, Sept 13: Australian spin great Shane Warne has backed the selection of leg-spinner Bryce McGain for the four-Test Indian tour and insists he is the top spinner in Australia despite his age.

Long-time Victorian club cricketer McGain, 36, was Friday named as the front line spinner for the Indian tour and is set to become Australia’s oldest Test debutante in 24 years.

“If you look at the spinners at the moment in Australia he is the best,” Warne was quoted as saying in Courier Mail. “He has slowed his pace down and is spinning it beautifully. Being 36 is an advantage for him experience wise and he has basically played club cricket once a week for most of his career so his body isn’t a worry.”

Former IT worker McGain has played only 19 first-class matches and taken 57 wickets and was taken in place of 25-year old Beau Casson, who made an impressive debut on the Caribbean tour, as the selectors felt his wrist spin would not suit the Indian conditions.

But Warne refused to see it as a downward slide for Casson. “I don’t see it as a backwards step that Beau Casson is gone. This is a tour of India and they have really good players of spin and we don’t want to ruin anyone,” Warne said.—Agencies