Potchestroom (South Africa), Feb. 19 : Australia leg-spinner Bryce McGain appears to have escaped any major punishment for missing a team flight, although coach Tim Nielsen shed little light on the situation.

McGain''s disciplinary lapse has been dealt with "internally" and Nielsen has declared the case closed, without revealing if any penalty was handed out.

The uncapped McGain, 36, missed the Australian cricket team''s flight to Johannesburg for the Test tour of South Africa on Monday, reports Fox Sports.

Johannesburg (South Africa), Feb. 17: Australian cricket skipper Ricky Ponting believes that leg-spinner Bryce McGain could make the difference between Australia winning or losing the forthcoming series to South Africa.

Melbourne, Feb. 6: Former Australian cricket captain Bill Lawry is of the view that leg -spinner Bryce McGain will prove to be a handful for the South African batsmen.

"He''s not a guy [who''s] been playing first-class cricket for 20 years, so he''s going to be fresh, he''s going to be enthusiastic and the South Africans, in particular, don''t play leg-spin all that well, so I think it''s a great opportunity for him," the Sydney Morning Herald quoted Lawry, as saying.

Melbourne, Feb. 5 : Former Australian leg-spinner Terry Jenner believes that Bryce McGain could be Ricky Ponting's shock weapon against South Africa.

Australia are desperately searching for the X-factor at the top of the order and with the ball following the retirement of Matthew Hayden, injuries to spearheads Stuart Clark and Brett Lee, and the ongoing void left by Warne.

Jenner believes Victorian leg-spinner McGain has the tricks and the temperament to torment the Proteas as Warne did in taking 61 wickets at 24.31 in 12 Tests across the Rainbow Nation.

It seems that problems have already started emerging in the Australian camp before the beginning of the test series. For the 26 year old leggie, Bryce McGain, the tour ended before it even started. 

The spinner from Victoria is all set to return home after discovering a right shoulder injury sustained during an Australia A match in India last month. However, Cricket Australia is yet to announce his replacement for the four-match Test series against India. McGain injured his right shoulder while playing an Australia A match in India last month.

Australian spinner Bryce McGain is expected to miss the forthcoming opening test against India. The match is scheduled for next week. The absence of spinner Bryce McGain would cause a big loss to the winning prospectus of Australian team. 

McGain suffered a shoulder injury some time ago and is unlikely to attend the tournament on health grounds. He was introduced in the national team at age of 36 and suffered injury last month during the Australia ‘A’ tour of India