It's been a big week for spin bowling in Australia. Nathan Lyon claimed match figures of 7-88 against the Kiwis at the Gabba - the best figures by an Australian off-spinner at the ground in almost 80 years.

Even Cameron White, the Bundaberg bear, got in on the act, claiming 5-59 in a Shield match against Queensland at the MCG.

But that wasn't the end of it.

Fresh from Shane Warne's much-publicised return to Australian cricket, his old sparring partner, Stuart MacGill, signed with the Sydney Sixers in the revised Big Bash League.

MacGill, who has taken 208 Test wickets at 29.02, follows the likes of Matthew Hayden (Brisbane Heat) and Brad Hogg (Perth Scorchers) in dusting off his gear to challenge the country's next wave of talent.

There are unlikely to be any advertising campaigns for the Big Bash featuring MacGill traversing his city (a la King Kong) and wreaking havoc. It would perhaps be more fitting for MacGill to amble through the lush fields of the Barossa Valley, sporting a Stetson over his marsupial tuft of grey hair, plucking cricket balls from the vines.

MacGill sits 12th on the list of all-time Test wicket takers for Australia. There has never been any doubting his pedigree in the longer forms of the game. But does the 40-year-old have much to offer Twenty20 cricket?

On the surface, his seems like a strange signing. The game's shortest format doesn't appear to suit his sophisticated pallet. It lacks subtlety. For him it's like swigging cask wine.

MacGill is hardly in great physical condition. He retired in 2008 midway through Australia's tour of the Caribbean due to carpal-tunnel syndrome. It is commonly known that he suffers from chronic knee problems.

He will offer precious little in the field or with the willow in hand. As opposed to Warne, he has a habit of remaining superfluous to proceedings when he isn't bowling.

Among those ‘irrational' pessimists in this world, his signing might be interpreted as a marketing ploy aimed at orchestrating a showdown between two ageing rivals, much like Jeff Fenech's meaningless 2008 bout against Azumah Nelson.

However despite all the reasons to the contrary, MacGill might yet prove to be an astute acquisition for the Sixers.

Spin bowling has played a surprisingly large role in Twenty20 since its formal inception in 2003. Last summer, South Australia won the Big Bash with three front line spinners - Adil Rashid, Nathan Lyon and Aaron O'Brien - in its team.

There is one role in particular that makes perfect sense for MacGill. He has always spun his leg breaks and wrong ‘uns a long way. This could prove invaluable at the beginning of an innings in two to three over bursts. Greeting the likes of Chris Gayle, David Warner and Brendon McCullum with pace tends to play into their hands. Taking the pace off the hard white ball, utilising flight and revolutions, seems like a more productive option.

As previously mentioned, the centrepiece of MacGill's return will be the Sixers' showdown with the Melbourne Stars at the SCG on December 27th. While Warne and MacGill have always maintained a civil, if not magnanimous, rivalry in the public gaze, there are certain tensions that must surely still simmer beneath the surface. It can't have been easy for MacGill to exist in Warne's immense shadow throughout his career. The dearth of spinning stocks since MacGill's retirement has shown how valuable he could have been had he been conceived merely five years later.

It will be worth watching the Stars take on the Sixers to see how the old rivalry plays itself out. Perhaps Warne will continue to reign supreme? Perhaps, like Fenech, MacGill will land some belated blows?

There was a great Wolf Blass advertisement that aired during the 2007/08 Australian summer. It featured Mike Hussey, Brad Hodge and Stuart MacGill. It was darkly amusing watching Hodge and MacGill linger at a bar, reminiscing about the highlights of their careers over a glass of red; two old timers lamenting what might have been if the system didn't screw them...