'Fall from grace': Ex-spinner Stuart MacGill spared jail for coke deal
The former legspinner, who turned to cocaine after cricket, was found guilty in March of supplying an indictable quantity of the drug after a $330,000 exchange in April 2021.
Moderated by Tomas Kauer 
An ex-Australian Test cricketer will serve a community sentence after being convicted over a cocaine deal which led to his violent kidnapping.
Former legspinner Stuart MacGill supplied drugs for the deal between his regular dealer and his brother-in-law in April 2021, a jury found in March.
The 54-year-old knew the cocaine was worth $330,000 but he was oblivious to the fact that a one-kilogram brick had changed hands.
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Jurors found him not guilty of taking part in a large commercial drug supply but found him guilty of the lesser charge of supplying an indictable quantity of coke.
MacGill appeared at Downing Centre District Court on Friday where a statement from former Test captain Steve Waugh backed his former colleague.
He was sentenced to an intensive corrections order of one year and 10 months.
MacGill must complete 495 hours of community service work and undergo drug testing as part of the order, in lieu of a prison term.
Judge Nicole Noman found the ex-legspinner played an indispensable role setting up the cocaine deal.
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"His role was essential to bring the parties together and for the transaction to occur," she said.
The lucrative cocaine deal put MacGill on the path to his violent kidnapping after his drug dealer stole two bricks of cocaine in a drug ripoff.
The kidnapping then spurred adverse media reports against him."
The offender's colossal lapse of judgment has been causative of a very public fall from grace," the judge said.
MacGill retired from cricket in 2008 after playing 44 Tests during which he claimed 208 scalps.
