Glenn McGrath

Glenn McGrath

Australia

Full name Glenn Donald McGrath
Born February 9, 1970, Dubbo, New South Wales
Current age 37 years 20 days
Major teams Australia, ICC World XI, Middlesex, New South Wales, Worcestershire
Nickname Pigeon, Millard
Playing role Bowler
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm fast-medium
Height 1.95 m
Education Narromine Primary; Narromine High School

Statsguru

Batting and fielding averages

	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	100	50	4s	6s	Ct	St
Tests	124	138	51	641	61	7.36	1570	40.82	0	1	51	1	38	0
ODIs	239	68	38	115	11	3.83	236	48.72	0	0	7	0	36	0
Twenty20 Int.	2	1	0	5	5	5.00	12	41.66	0	0	0	0	1	0
First-class	189	193	67	977	61	7.75			0	2			54	0
List A	292	78	43	123	11	3.51	268	45.89	0	0			46	0
Twenty20	2	1	0	5	5	5.00	12	41.66	0	0			1	0

Bowling averages

	Mat	Balls	Runs	Wkts	BBI	BBM	Ave	Econ	SR	4	5	10
Tests	124	29248	12186	563	8/24	10/27	21.64	2.49	51.95	28	29	3
ODIs	239	12485	8034	355	7/15	7/15	22.63	3.86	35.16	9	7	0
Twenty20 Int.	2	48	79	5	3/31	3/31	15.80	9.87	9.60	0	0	0
First-class	189	41759	17414	835	8/24		20.85	2.50	50.01		42	7
List A	292	15209	9586	432	7/15	7/15	22.18	3.78	35.20	15	7	0
Twenty20	2	48	79	5	3/31	3/31	15.80	9.87	9.60	0	0	0

Career statistics
Test debut	Australia v New Zealand at Perth - Nov 12-16, 1993
Last Test	Australia v England at Sydney - Jan 2-5, 2007
ODI debut	Australia v South Africa at Melbourne - Dec 9, 1993
Last ODI	New Zealand v Australia at Auckland - Feb 18, 2007
Twenty20 Int. debut	New Zealand v Australia at Auckland - Feb 17, 2005
Last Twenty20 Int.	England v Australia at Southampton - Jun 13, 2005
First-class span	1992/93 - 2006/07
List A span	1992/93 - 2006/07
Twenty20 span	2004/05 - 2005

Notes

Wisden Cricketer of the Year 1998
Wisden Australia Cricketer of the Year 1999
Allan Border Medal 2000
Test Player of the Year - 2000
One-Day International Player of the Year - 2001
Wisden Australia Cricketer of the Year 2005-06

Profile

The young Glenn McGrath was described by Mike Whitney as "thin - but Ambrose-thin, not Bruce Reid-thin". Much later, Mike Atherton compared McGrath to Ambrose on a vaster scale. Catapulted from the outback of New South Wales into Test cricket to replace Merv Hughes in 1993, McGrath became, after a faltering start, the great Australian paceman of his time. And after passing Courtney Walsh's 519 wickets in the 2005 Super Test only Dennis Lillee threatens his title as the greatest Australian fast man of all time. His obituary has been prepared a few times - he was doubted after coming back in 2004 from ankle surgery and there were similar fears following a long lay-off to care for his wife two years later - but he wrote his own farewell by retiring from Tests on his home ground. Apart from bowing out with a 5-0 Ashes win, he walked of the SCG with a wicket from his final ball to capture his 563th victim. The World Cup will be his last tour as an international before he becomes a full-time Dad.

McGrath bowled an unremitting off-stump line and an immaculate length, gained off-cut and bounce, specialised in the opposition's biggest wickets - especially Atherton's and Brian Lara's - was unafraid to back himself publicly in these key duels, and showed himself to be unusually durable. He was a batting rabbit who applied himself so intently that while playing for Worcestershire he won a bet with an Australian team-mate by posting a fifty. The work eventually paid off in Tests when he made 61, the third-highest score by a No. 11, against New Zealand in 2004-05. Only in his occasional fits of ill-temper did he fail himself.

He rewrote the World Cup record-books in 2003 with 7 for 15 against the outclassed Namibians, on his way to adding another winner's medal to a bulging collection. An ankle injury threatened to derail his quest for 500 Test wickets, but after briefly contemplating retirement he bounced back with yet another five-wicket haul against Sri Lanka at Darwin in July 2004. Three months later, at Nagpur, he became the first fast bowler to play 100 matches in the baggy green, and his greatness was further confirmed when knocking down the brittle Pakistanis at Perth with 8 for 24, the second-best figures by an Australian.

Adept at picking his moments, he chose the first day at Lord's to reach 500 and his subsequent ankle and arm injuries were crucial to Australia losing the series. The following summer was also painfully disrupted with the reoccurrence of his wife Jane's cancer, which called for immediate treatment and McGrath's full attention. He pulled out of the VB Series finals as well as tours to South Africa and Bangladesh, but he returned to help Australia reclaim the urn.