Former Australian Test cricketer Stuart MacGill may have lied about being attacked and kidnapped during a drug transaction he allegedly helped organise, a judge has been told.
Brothers Frederick Schaaf, 28, and Richard Schaaf, 30, are accused of kidnapping the former spin bowler on April 14, 2021.
The pair face one charge of taking or detaining a person in company to get advantage and occasioning actual bodily harm, and applied for bail in the NSW Supreme Court on Monday.
Their barrister Avni Djemal said there was "a high level" of evidence that implicated MacGill in the drug transaction and was surprised he had not been charged over the incident.
"He says I had nothing to do with it," Mr Djemal said.
But there was contrary evidence that MacGill was an avid user of cocaine all the time, or that he was drunk, or desperate for money and spoke to the dealer to organise the supply of kilograms, the court was told.
Mr Djemal said MacGill was an unreliable witness with serious credit issues.
According to his police statement following the incident, he was punched repeatedly to the front and back of his face and into his chin, causing him to become concussed.
"(But) he doesn't have one visible injury after those events," Mr Djemal said.
"No medical evidence had confirmed his claim that he had lumps at the back of his head", he said.
According to his police statement when the men let him go "the big fella" said he should wear sunglasses, in effect, to make out as if he was injured, Mr Djemal submitted.
"If you've been punched, why the facade?"
MacGill told police he was forced into a car at Cremorne on Sydney's north shore and taken to Bringelly, south of Sydney.
Three assailants then allegedly tried to extort money from the 51-year-old before dropping him about 45 minutes away in Belmore about an hour later.
He could not identify the men who kidnapped him but said they spoke Tongan.
He waited a week to report the incident to police saying he was so frightened by the experience and had been threatened with a gun.
The Crown on Monday submitted that Frederick Schaaf had two phones, one located inside the car allegedly used in the kidnapping.
But Mr Djemal said his other covert Cipher phone was nowhere near the car, and argued his other overt phone was left inside the car while it was borrowed.
Mr Djemal submitted the car was lent to cousin Elijah Schaaf who then used it for the kidnapping without Frederick's knowledge, helped by Vaeluagaomatagy Felio.
Justice Richard Button has reserved his decision on the bail applications.
