A former Australian international cricketer was kidnapped at gunpoint by a gang that allegedly included his ex-girlfriend's brother

• Former Australian international cricketer Stuart MacGill was kidnapped at gunpoint in Sydney.
• The gang of kidnappers allegedly included the brother of his ex-girlfriend.
• Four men have been arrested in connection to the incident.

Former Australian international cricketer Stuart MacGill was kidnapped at gunpoint by a gang of men, allegedly including the brother of his ex-girlfriend.

Police in the city of Sydney said MacGill was forced into a vehicle after being confronted at a crossroads near his home by three men on the evening of Wednesday April 14.

The 50-year-old was then driven to a remote property, where he was assaulted and threatened with a firearm before being released an hour later, police say.

MacGill reported the incident to police a week after it happened, saying he was concerned for his family's safety. He suffered minor injuries but did not require medical care, police said.

Four men have been arrested in connection with MacGill's abduction, including Marino Sotiropoulos, the 46-year-old brother of MacGill's former girlfriend Maria O'Meagher, reports The Times of London.

According to Australia's national broadcaster, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation,Sotiropoulos faces a number of charges, including occasioning actual bodily harm.

Police say they believe the crime to be financially motivated, though no money was handed over or obtained in the course of the attack.

"He was seen as someone that they could get money from, although no money was paid prior to him being released," Anthony Holton, a detective on the case said, according to The Times.

MacGill reached a confidential settlement with Cricket Australia in 2017 over a $1.95 million (A$2.6 million) injury claim, with the Test spinner claiming the organization had failed to pay him injury payments over a two-year period from May 2008, according to The Sydney Morning Herald.

"I know it is only an hour that he was held, but it would have been a horribly frightful hour to endure through," said Holton.

Holton added that MacGill was "not involved in any back story that leads to him having a personal debt to other people."

He was the "victim of a targeted kidnapping," the detective added.

MacGill retired from professional cricket in 2012, and is now the general manager of a Greek restaurant called Aristotle's in Neutral Bay, Sydney.

According to The Times, the restaurant is now owned by O'Meagher, but was previously owned by Sotiropoulos.