Stuart MacGill opens up on his partying with Shane Warne as the pair 'hid vodka in Gatorade bottles' on tour - as spinner reveals the one city they refused to go drinking in

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It is one of the great unanswerable questions in cricket - what sort of career would Stuart MacGill have had if there was no Shane Warne? 

The former Aussie star is desperately unlucky to have played only 44 Tests because he was behind the greatest leg spinner of all time in the pecking order - but despite that, MacGill and the late Warne were great friends.

And while MacGill was often forced to carry the drinks as 12th man on tours around the world, the duo would carry around cheeky drinks of a very different kind once stumps was called.

MacGill and Warne loved a beverage and MacGill revealed that on tours of hot countries like Sri Lanka, they would often sneak vodka into their Gatorade bottles. 

'It's very, very important for all you young players out there to hydrate when you're playing in hot weather and so I found vodka and Gatorade - really, really, it's very, very good,' McGill said on the 82 Days Till The Ashes podcast.

Warney kept MacGill out of the Aussie Test side for long stretches but instead of being rivals, the two leg spinners (pictured together in 2000) became mates

The duo (pictured during a tour match between Australia and the President's XI in Sri Lanka in 2004) had a novel way of staying 'hydrated' during games 

The 52-year-old also revealed that the pair didn't really talk about cricket much or share tactics.

But they did share tips about the best watering holes around the world.

'Tips like, yeah, Warney, don't worry about the line, just go straight to the front, that barman always gives you the odd cheeky shot, that sort of stuff, those were the sort of tips that we operated on,' MacGill said.

'We did actually talk a lot in South Africa as well, do go out in Johannesburg, don't go out in Durban - "detox Durban", we called it.

'That was the sort of conversation that we normally had. Not much cricket, to be honest.'

MacGill also recalled the time he and Warne were sitting in the outfield in Sri Lanka enjoying some refreshing 'Gatorade' and sharing stories.

'He was just about to get his 500th [Test] wicket and I said to him, you know, mate, you're going to get 700 test wickets,' MacGill said.

'We both just sat there and rolled around on the floor [laughing] ... I was serious but he just thought it was a joke.'

Warne and MacGill (pictured during the third Test at the SCG in 2005) often exchanged tips on the field - but they were about nightlife, not cricket

While McGill and Warne didn't get to play many Tests together, they developed a great friendship as they toured the world together

Warne would go on to famously take 708 Test wickets.

In terms of bowling, MacGill said Warne had the tougher job on the rare occasions they did get to spin together. 

'You talk about building pressure, he was up the other end when I was bowling,' MacGill said.

'It was him and [Glenn] McGrath and Brett Lee and Damien Fleming, Michael Kasprowicz, Andy Bichel I had all of them up the other end and they had to put up with a guy who is leaking five or six an over.

'So it was it was a hell of a lot easier for me than it was for them.'

Despite leaking runs, MacGill was an exceptional player in his own right and finished third in the wicket taker list for the 2004/05 Pura Cup (now Sheffield Shield) season with 54.

He also helped lead NSW to the title and had a strong case to be picked for the Australian Test side to tour England.

Shane Warne and Shane Watson carry a jerrycan during the infamous boot camp organised by then-coach John Buchanan in 2006

Warney and Buchanan never saw eye to eye, with the great leg spinner questioning why the Test side even needed a coach

MacGill was picked in the squad, but never played a match under coach John Buchanan - a fact he remains filthy about.  

'You would think that I'd know that having been the leading wicket taker in the 2004-05 season in Australia that I was getting picked for the Ashes series in 2005,' he said,

'But unfortunately John Buchanan was the coach and look, I'd like to quote my great mate Shane on this one, the only thing that a coach is good for is getting to and from the game. 

'I wouldn't always say that but I think in John's case it's apt.'