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Full name Glenn Donald McGrath
Born February 9, 1970, Dubbo, New South Wales
Current age 38 years 98 days
Major teams Australia, Delhi Daredevils, 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

Batting and fielding averages
	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	50	4s	6s	Ct
Tests	124	138	51	641	61	7.36	1570	40.82	1	51	1	38
ODIs	250	68	38	115	11	3.83	236	48.72	0	7	0	37
T20Is	2	1	0	5	5	5.00	12	41.66	0	0	0	1
First-class	189	193	67	977	61	7.75			2			54
List A	303	78	43	123	11	3.51	268	45.89	0			47
Twenty20	14	4	1	5	5	1.66	15	33.33	0	0	0	5

Bowling averages
	Mat	Inns	Balls	Runs	Wkts	BBI	BBM	Ave	Econ	SR	4w	5w	10
Tests	124	243	29248	12186	563	8/24	10/27	21.64	2.49	51.9	28	29	3
ODIs	250	248	12970	8391	381	7/15	7/15	22.02	3.88	34.0	9	7	0
T20Is	2	2	48	79	5	3/31	3/31	15.80	9.87	9.6	0	0	0
First-class	189		41759	17414	835	8/24		20.85	2.50	50.0		42	7
List A	303		15694	9943	458	7/15	7/15	21.70	3.80	34.2	15	7	0
Twenty20	14	14	324	355	16	4/29	4/29	22.18	6.57	20.2	1	0	0

Career statistics
Test debut	Australia v New Zealand at Perth, Nov 12-16, 1993 scorecard
Last Test	Australia v England at Sydney, Jan 2-5, 2007 scorecard
Test statistics
ODI debut	Australia v South Africa at Melbourne, Dec 9, 1993 scorecard
Last ODI	Australia v Sri Lanka at Bridgetown, Apr 28, 2007 scorecard
ODI statistics
T20I debut	New Zealand v Australia at Auckland, Feb 17, 2005 scorecard
Last T20I	England v Australia at Southampton, Jun 13, 2005 scorecard
T20I statistics
First-class debut	1992/93
Last First-class	Australia v England at Sydney, Jan 2-5, 2007 scorecard
List A debut	1992/93
Last List A	Australia v Sri Lanka at Bridgetown, Apr 28, 2007 scorecard
Twenty20 debut	New Zealand v Australia at Auckland, Feb 17, 2005 scorecard
Last Twenty20	Delhi Daredevils v Kings XI Punjab at Delhi, May 17, 2008 scorecard

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 the greatest Australian fast bowler of his time. He went on to beat Courtney Walsh's 519 wickets in the 2005 Super Test to become the leading wicket-taker among fast bowlers and his claim to the title of Australia's greatest fast man is contested only by Dennis Lillee. His obituary was 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 farewells. He retired from Tests at the SCG - his home ground - after Australia whitewashed England 5-0 in the 2006-07 Ashes and was adjudged the Man of the Tournament during Australia's successful World Cup campaign in 2007, his final one-day appearance.

McGrath's USP was an unremitting off-stump line and an immaculate length. He gained off-cut and bounce, specialised in the opposition's biggest wickets - especially Atherton's and Brian Lara's - and he was unafraid to back himself publicly in these key duels. 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 scoring a fifty. The hard 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 Ashes in 2005. The following summer was also painfully disrupted with the recurrence 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 made an emphatic comeback that culminated in him taking a record 26 wickets in the 2007 World Cup.
Cricinfo staff February 2008