Glenn McGrath

Glenn Donald McGrath AM (pronounced [mɪ:'ɡɹɑː]) (born 9 February 1970 in Dubbo, New South Wales), nicknamed "Pigeon"¹ is a former Australian cricket player and he currently plays for the Indian Premier League team of Delhi DareDevils. He is one of the most highly regarded fast-medium pace bowlers in cricketing history, and a leading contributor to Australia's domination of world cricket since the mid-1990s to 2008.² He holds the world record for the highest number of Test wickets by a fast bowler and is fourth on the all time list, with the top three wicket takers Anil Kumble, Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan all being spin bowlers.³ McGrath announced his retirement from Test cricket on the 23 December 2006.⁴ His Test career came to an end after the 5th Ashes test in Sydney, whilst the 2007 World Cup marked the end of his one-day career.⁵ He currently holds every World Cup bowling record of note.

Early years

McGrath was born in Dubbo, New South Wales to Beverly and Kevin McGrath. [1] He grew up in Narromine, New South Wales (NSW) where he first played cricket and his potential was spotted by Doug Walters.⁶ He moved to Sydney to play grade cricket for Sutherland, and made his debut for NSW during the 1992–93 season. McGrath capped his rapid rise in the next Australian summer with selection in the Test team after only eight first-class matches.⁷ His Test debut was against New Zealand at Perth, in 1993–1994.

Bowling

McGrath's bowling was not of express pace. Rather, he relied on unerring accuracy and subtle seam movement.⁸ His height (about 6 ft 5 in), combined with a high arm action, allowed him to extract extra bounce from most pitches that often surprised batsmen. In the later years of his career, he developed as a swing bowler.⁹

His uncomplicated method and natural physical fitness were significant factors in the longevity of McGrath's career. In 2004, he became the first Australian fast bowler to play 100 Tests.¹⁰ In the first innings of the ICC Super Series Test match in 2005, McGrath passed Courtney Walsh to become the greatest wicket-taker among fast bowlers in Test history.¹¹

McGrath was regarded as the best fast bowler in the world and has had success against every opposition team, in both Test and one-day cricket. He deliberately (and publicly) targeted the opposition's best batsmen prior to a series in an attempt to distract them, a ploy which regularly worked. At the beginning of the Frank Worrell series against the West Indies he stated in interviews before the match, that he would dismiss Sherwin Campbell for his 299th wicket, then remove star batsman Brian Lara for his 300th wicket the very next ball. In a masterstroke this eventuated as planned, following this with the dismissal of captain Jimmy Adams to complete a memorable hat trick. The targeting of opposition batsmen has generally been successful; he has dismissed Mike Atherton of England 19 times - the most times any batsman has been dismissed by one bowler in cricket history. On the other hand, he targeted Michael Vaughan prior to the 2002/03 Ashes series in Australia, with Vaughan going on to score three centuries at an average greater than 60. He targeted Andrew Strauss in the 2005 series in England, who went on to score two centuries.

He also tends to engage in sledging of opposition batsmen and teams, though it doesn't always pay off. Before the 2005 Ashes series he predicted a 5-0 whitewash for Australia, and even said that if England won the Ashes he would return to Australia by boat, but England prevailed 2-1. However, this did not dissuade him from making a similar 5-0 prediction for the next Ashes series, in Australia in 2006/07 which turned out to be true. He finished his career as the most successful Test fast-bowler and 3rd highest Test wicket taker. However his Test wicket haul was surpassed by Indian leg-spinner Anil Kumble during India's tour of England 2007.

McGrath has often been in trouble with match referees for his confrontational behaviour while bowling, particular in showing dissent after an appeal is rejected. In January 2006, he was given a severe reprimand after using obscene language.¹²

A Sri Lankan Cricketer Roshan Mahanama claimed in his book 'Retired hurt' penned by noted Australian sports chronicler Ken Piesse that McGrath called Sanath Jayasuriya a black monkey. McGrath denied this.¹³

Fielding

McGrath is a competent outfielder with a strong and accurate throwing arm; whilst not known for his athleticism, on one memorable occasion in 2002 he took an exceptional outfield catch at the Adelaide Oval against England, dismissing English batsman Michael Vaughan from the bowling of Shane Warne, running many metres before leaping into the air and catching the ball with arms outstretched and his body horizontal (see Google Video video [2]). His captain, Steve Waugh, described the famous catch as "a miracle" and "one of the great catches in history".

Batting

McGrath's batting prowess, in the early phases of his career was non-existent; in fact, he scored first-ball ducks (zero runs) on both his Test [3] and One-Day International [4] debuts, and his batting average hovered below 4 for the first few years of his career. Years of patient tutelage from captain and friend Steve Waugh have improved this aspect of his game, to the point where he has scored a Test half century which came on 20 November 2004 against New Zealand [5]at the Gabba. His final score in that innings was 61. Nevertheless, McGrath is still regarded as a batting 'rabbit', although to his credit coaching from Steve Waugh and others has helped to push his average up to above 7.00 runs/dismissal. In the first World Cricket Tsunami Appeal charity match, he was promoted to bat at number 6 ahead of specialist batsmen Stephen Fleming and Matthew Hayden, but was dismissed first ball trying to slog Muttiah Muralitharan. Towards the end of his international career, McGrath, while not scoring many runs himself, became rather more difficult for opposing bowlers to dismiss, being dismissed only once during the 2005 Ashes series. With a contribution of 11 runs in the first innings of the MCG 2005 Boxing Day Test versus South Africa[6], he stood his ground for 53 deliveries, helping Michael Hussey push the Australian tail to a record tenth wicket stand against South Africa of 107 runs.

County cricket in England

McGrath played for Worcestershire in the 2000 English County Championship, proving both successful on the field and popular with the county's supporters. In 14 first-class games he took 80 wickets at 13.21, including an outstanding innings return of 8-41 against Northamp tonshire, as well as making his first ever first-class half-century (55 against Nottinghamshire). He also played a few games for Middlesex in 2004, but although accurate could manage only nine wickets in four first-class appearances for the county.

Against England (Ashes 2005 and 2006/07)

During the 1st Test at Lords in the 2005 Ashes series Glenn McGrath became the fourth bowler in history to take 500 Test wickets with the dismissal of Marcus Trescothick. This wicket was also the start of a very productive spell of 5-2 which led to England being bowled out for 155. McGrath took 4-29 in the 2nd innings and was named man of the match in a comprehensive Australian victory.

McGrath trod on a cricket ball and injured his ankle the morning before the start of the 2nd Test at Edgbaston and was unable to play in the match in which England amassed 407 runs in one day against the McGrath-less bowling attack to win by 2 runs. He was rushed back when not fully fit for the 3rd Test at Old Trafford, where he earned another 5-wicket haul in the 2nd innings of a drawn game, batting in a last-wicket partnership with Brett Lee in the last hour of the Test to deny an English victory. He then missed the 4th Test at Trent Bridge with an elbow injury, which England won the Test by 3 wickets. McGrath returned for the final Test at The Oval but it was too late. McGrath's injury problems are seen as a key factor in England regaining the Ashes, as their victories came in matches in which he was absent.¹⁴

Australia hosted England in the 2006-07 Ashes series and quickly regained the Ashes, beating England 5-0, only the second 5-0 series whitewash in Ashes history (the first time was by the Australian team during the 1920-1921 Ashes Series). Having taken a break from cricket since April 2006, McGrath used the 2006 ICC Champions Trophy to reclaim his spot in Australia's test XI. He took a 6 wicket haul in his comeback innings in the first test at the Gabba to set the tone for the rest of the series, with Australia winning back the Ashes in a record breaking 15 days of play.¹⁵ McGrath took 21 wickets in the series at an average of 23.90, as well as scoring 10 runs and taking 1 catch in what was to be his final test series.

Retirement

On 23 December 2006, McGrath announced his retirement from tests. His last test was the Fifth Ashes Test against England in Sydney in January 2007.¹⁶¹⁷ He has also retired from all forms of international cricket following the successful 2007 Cricket World Cup where he became the leading wicket taker in the history of the World Cup, while also being the top wicket taker with 26 and being named player of the tournament.

Comeback offer-IPL

He was signed by the Delhi DareDevils for the Indian Premier League for a sum of USD 350,000 (INR 1.4 crore) to play in Twenty Overs games.¹⁸. His T-Shirt in IPL had the name "Pidge", short form for his nickname "Pigeon".

Personal life

His late wife, Jane (née Steele), was British-born and had worked as a flight attendant before their marriage. They had two children, James and Holly. Jane McGrath fought recurrent battles with breast cancer and bone cancer. They jointly established the McGrath Foundation, for which Glenn McGrath has utilized his public profile to raise money to fund more Breast Care Nurses in rural and regional Australia and educate young women to become 'breast aware'¹⁹. Jane McGrath died, aged 42, on 22 June 2008 from complications following cancer surgery.²⁰

Interests

Honours

He was named a Member of the Order of Australia on 26 January (Australia Day) in 2008 for "service to cricket as a player", and along with his wife for "service to the community through the establishment of the McGrath Foundation."²²

Trivia

Contents