Australian Test hero Stuart MacGill made a mercy dash from Cairns to Trent Bridge to play for his English county cricket side.

Bottom-placed Nottinghamshire needed all the help they could get in their match against Middlesex, which began Thursday.

So, immediately after earning player of the series honours with 17 wickets in the 2-0 series win over Bangladesh, MacGill caught a plane back to London and arrived at Trent Bridge at 10am.

Nottinghamshire won the toss and elected to bat so the leg spinner could go home for a few hours' sleep.

"Stuart only lives five minutes from the ground so we could have called him back at a moment's notice," Nottinghamshire coach Mick Newell told British paper The Guardian.

"He managed to get a bit of sleep on the flight between Bangkok and Heathrow but didn't return to England until 6.30am and then had a long taxi ride up to the ground.

"Stuart would have been ready to play if we had fielded first but it was fortuitous that he was able to go and get some rest.

"That he was prepared to step straight on to a cricket field after travelling 10,000 miles (16,090km), however, showed fantastic dedication."

MacGill was sent in to bat just before the close of play for the day and was unbeaten on one in Nottinghamshire's first innings score of 9-249.

"It was a long old day but I don't feel too bad," MacGill said.

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