McGrath, Glenn Donald

▪ 2008

born Feb. 9, 1970, Dubbo, N.S.W., Australia

      When cricketer Glenn (“Pigeon”) McGrath retired in 2007 at the age of 36, the 1.95-m (6-ft 5-in) Australian with the metronomic action and the clinical mind had taken more wickets than any other fast bowler in Test history: 563 wickets in 124 Tests at an average of 21.64. The figures for his final Test, against England (for whom he often reserved his best efforts), read: 21 overs, 11 maidens, 38 runs, and 3 wickets. These were typical figures for McGrath throughout his 13-year international career; he hated to give away runs as much as he enjoyed taking wickets.

      McGrath was not a true fast bowler in that he did not rely on pure speed to take wickets. His average pace was medium-fast, but with his height and a near-perfect upright delivery stride, he generated bounce and movement from the most docile pitch. Above all, he was a master of psychology, regularly predicting the results of Test series before the start and targeting individual batsmen for particular pressure. A gentle and humorous man off the field, McGrath on the field was an unsmiling assassin—both with the accuracy of his bowling and with the acidity of his tongue—who never let any batsman settle for one minute. Very few managed to come out on top. Like all Australian cricketers, McGrath relished wearing his Baggy Green cap, the symbol of the Australian team, and delighted in battles against the best batsmen in the world—particularly the brilliant West Indian Brian Lara.

      McGrath was brought up in Narrowmine, where he was discovered by former Australian batsman Doug Walters. He progressed quickly through school, grade (club), and state cricket to the Australian Test team, making his Test debut against New Zealand in November 1993 and his one-day international debut the following month against South Africa.

      He became the second fast bowler (after Courtney Walsh of the West Indies) to take 500 wickets, at Lord's cricket ground in London in the first Test of the 2005 Ashes series, which England unexpectedly won 2–1. Less than three months later, in the Super Test at Sydney, he surpassed Walsh's 519 wickets. Though he took time away from the game in his final season to help his English wife, Jane, recover from cancer, McGrath came back strongly to lead the attack as Australia reclaimed the Ashes 5–0 in the southern summer of 2006–07. His Test farewell was eclipsed by the departure of his more charismatic teammate, leg-spin bowler Shane Warne, but McGrath could be sure that Australia would miss him equally. (Often working in tandem, he and Warne took 1,271 Test wickets between them.) McGrath crowned his international career by helping Australia win the 2007 World Cup, in which he was the leading bowler, with 26 wickets.

Andrew Longmore

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