Former Australian leg-spinner Stuart MacGill has gone nuclear on a popular podcast after the host brought up a low moment in Australian cricket history.
MacGill, who played 44 Test matches and took 208 wickets despite being in the same generation as the late, great Shane Warne, has been appearing on the podcast Cricket Unfiltered.
And a recent episode took a major turn for the worse as MacGill lost the plot and appeared to threaten the host over his line of questioning.
It escalated quickly when show host Andrew ‘Menners’ Menczel brought up the appalling behaviour of South African supporters towards former Australian opener David Warner and his wife Candice.
The Warners were sledged mercilessly on the ill-fated 2018 tour of South Africa, with fans wearing Sonny Bill Williams masks and even posing with local officials.
The masks were clearly intended to taunt Warner over a widely publicised 2007 incident involving the rugby star and his now-wife, Candice.
Candice Warner was involved in a highly publicised incident with Sonny Bill Williams in 2007
When Australia toured South Africa in 2018 fans wore Sonny Bill Williams masks and viciously taunted David Warner and his wife Candice
The incident involving the Sonny Bill Williams masks happened in the second Test, right before the sandpaper scandal that saw Warner suspended
The Warners were also subjected to numerous, vile taunts from the crowd in the opening two Tests, before Warner was suspended for his role in Sandpapergate.
Menczel brought up the issue of the South African crowd’s behaviour, saying: ‘That is low.’
‘That’s low behaviour. It’s targeting his wife, which I think is pretty poor. They can go pretty low.’
Something in MacGill snapped when the host brought up the issue, and he went on the offensive to shut him down.
‘Well, I think it’s pretty low talking about it, for starters, Menners. You didn’t need to go into details there. I think that’s s***, you’re a f***ing idiot,’ MacGill fired back.
‘Why?’ Menczel replied.
‘You shouldn’t go into details about things like this because you’re doing exactly the same as the crowd,’ MacGill said.
‘Listen to me now. You’ve raised exactly the same issues. You’re saying the same thing that they did, and that is s**t. So we’re not going to talk about that anymore.
MacGill took exception to Cricket Unfiltered podcast host ‘Menners’ Menczel bringing up the incident involving the Warners again
Menczel questioned why the former leg-spinner was so angry and said he didn’t go into detail
MacGill continued to fume, even appearing to threaten the podcast host if he continued
‘If we’re going to talk about issues to do with one particular player, we can say that they’ve talked about personal issues relating to that player.’
Menczel agreed ‘that’s fair’, but MacGill was only just winding up.
‘Menners, what I want you to do right now – otherwise this will be a very, very short-lived relationship – you need to respect players and their families a lot more than you do at the moment,’ he fumed.
Menczel replied: ‘I do respect them.’
‘You did exactly the same thing … listen, mate, she’s a friend of mine as well,’ MacGill said, as Menczel tried to interject by saying that he felt sorry for Warner.
‘I feel sorry for you, because you’re obviously so pig-headed that you do not realise you said exactly the same thing as the South African crowd,’ MacGill said.
Menczel replied: ‘I didn’t bring anything up. I didn’t go into details.’
‘You did. You are a moron. Continue. Next topic,’ MacGill replied.
MacGill played 44 Tests for Australia and took 208 wickets in a decorated career
His record was made even more exceptional by the fact he was often held out of the team by Shane Warne
Menczel then tried to steer the topic away from the Warners and onto the upcoming Bangladesh tour, but MacGill still had more to say on the matter.
As the host tried to talk about the cricket, MacGill then sharply interrupted.
‘And if you cut that out, it’s the last time I ever work with you,’ he said.
‘No, I won’t cut it out at all. I’ll leave it in. But I just think you’re missing what I’m trying to say,’ Menczel replied.
‘Move on. Move on,’ MacGill fumed.
‘Listen, you muppet. When I say move on, I’m not saying keep talking about it.’
Menczel then decided to stand up to the former off-spinner, and said: ‘It’s my show as well. I can keep talking.’
The host tried to talk about the cricket while MacGill continued to fume, with Menczel then saying: ‘You look really upset … if you don’t want to talk about it, that’s fine.’
‘You’re a joke, mate. Move on,’ MacGill snapped back.
‘You seem very irritable,’ Menczel said.
‘Mate, I might jump across the mic in a second,’ MacGill shot back.
And that concluded the podcast, with many listeners commenting on MacGill’s behaviour and branding him a bully.
‘MacGill behaving like a playground bully, what a shame,’ one commented.
‘MacGill should definitely be apologising to Menners after what happened at the end,’ added another.
‘McGill has completely lost it here, not the first time on the show either,’ posted yet another.
