A legend signs off in style

Bridgetown, Barbados: Glenn McGrath's face bears a mysterious contentment, the calm self-assuredness of someone who knows something you don't, who knows the questions before the exam is given.

It's as if the 'higher power' that presides over all the bowlers in the game of cricket has let him in on a little secret, and it is safe with the chosen one.

The look is there even at the end of an exhausting match, a tough session at the nets, or while facing the media for what may well be his final press conference before he bows out of cricket.

Glenn McGrath burst out from the outback of New South Wales to replace an injured Merv Hughes in 1993 and after what may best be described as a modest start he gradually climbed up the charts to stand today as Australia's most successful fast bowler of all time.

Everything about McGrath has been a matter of timing and accuracy. It was to shape his fundamentals as a bowler.

While his illustrious counterparts emphasised flair, cut and movement, McGrath kept it simple: an unrelenting off-stump line and an immaculate length. The batsmen found it easier to read Sanskrit, rendering him virtually unplayable and sending his economy rate plunging down south. He later perfected the slower ball and could slot all his deliveries into an open mailbox from the customary 22 yards.

The story of Glenn McGrath the bowler began to take shape when he made his Test debut against New Zealand at Perth in 1993.

Defying the odds

His legend, however, was firmly in place by the time he played his last Test against England at Sydney in January this year. Along the way, 'Pigeon' as he is called by his teammates helped himself to 563 Test and over 400 one-day scalps.

With the mortality rate among fast bowlers being quite high McGrath's body has taken its fair load of punishment. His mind has been battered as well.

Like when his wife Jane was diagnosed with cancer. There have been career- threatening operations, his obituary has been written more than once and put in the shredder and each time he has come back to defy the odds and lift himself and Australia.

McGrath's defiance and grittiness symbolises all that is special about Australian cricket and the World Cup final turned out to be his Kodak moment.

So when he banged down the final delivery from his full quota of overs, sportswriters hit the key boards, message boards hummed and talking heads babbled: the atmosphere in the world of sport was suddenly charged with a sense of nostalgia.

You can be sure that when he takes that last walk out of the stadium and into the pavilion the hierarchy in the world of bowlers would have been drastically reshuffled.

Factfile

Name: Glenn Donald McGrath
Born: February 9, 1970, Dubbo, New South Wales
Age: 37
Major teams: Australia, ICC World XI, Middlesex, New South Wales, Worcestershire
Batting style: Right-hand bat
Bowling style: Right-arm fast-medium
Height: 1.95m
Test career: (v New Zealand, Perth, Nov 12-16, 1993) Bowling Matches: 124 Balls: 29,248 Runs: 12,186 Wickets: 563 Best bowling (innings): 8/24 Best bowling (match): 10/27 Average: 21.64 5wkt innings: 29 10wkt matches: 3
Batting Innings: 138 Not out: 51 Runs: 641 Highest score: 61 Average: 7.36 100s: 0 50s: 1 4s: 51 6s: 1 Catches: 38
ODI career: (v South Africa, Melbourne, Dec 9, 1993) Bowling Matches: 249 Balls: 12,928 Runs: 8,360 Wickets: 380 Best Bowling: 7/15 Average: 22.00 4wkt innings: 9 5wkt innings: 7 Batting Innings: 68 Not out: 38 Runs: 115 Highest score: 11 Average: 3.83 100s: 0 50s: 0 4s: 7 6s: 0 Catches: 37.