McGrath Glenn - Glenn McGrath: line and strength: the complete story

Foreword

I wrote that in my book The Art of Fast Bowling way back in 1977. I have no idea if Glenn McGrath ever read that passage, but by representing Australia in 124 Tests and 250 One Day Internationals, hes proof that I told the truth all those years ago.

Glenn didnt really start to play cricket until he was in his mid-teens and thats quite late. In this book he tells the story of how he worked to fulfil his secret dream of representing Australia by practising religiously, bowling at a 44-gallon drum behind his fathers machinery shed.

McGrath did that even though few people at his junior club thought he had any ability as a bowler. I think it says a lot about his drive and his determination that he single-mindedly pursued a dream many thought was way beyond his reach.

But the people of the Backwater Cricket Club in outback New South Wales neednt punish themselves for not seeing anything special in their most famous player. You see, when I first laid eyes on him 17 or 18 years ago, I definitely didnt earmark him as a Test bowler in the making let alone as one of the games greatest. Glenn was raw red raw when I watched him in the Sydney Cricket Grounds practice nets. He was in a NSW fast bowlers squad that had been formed as part of a national initiative to identify up-and-comers with potential.

In my role as the head consultant, I travelled around Australia to cast my eyes over the young bowlers. Id either change inefficient or injury-prone actions or techniques, finetune individual actions, or offer bowlers advice when, and if, it was needed. My first reaction, watching Glenn bowl, was not that he was a champion in the making. He bowled okay, but to be brutally honest, I saw nothing to write home about.

I thought hed need to develop his core strength if he was to have any hope of even surviving the fast bowlers game. He was wiry, and indeed back then he was painfully thin. However, no-one realised he was doing it so tough financially that he often ate a Mars Bar for dinner because it was all he could afford.

Glenn couldnt have been any older than 19 when he was in that squad, but what his progression to international cricketer highlighted was that a player can change from his late teenage years to his early twenties. Glenns confidence, strength, ability and skills changed dramatically in the space of those few short years; and another thing Ive noted is that each body responds differently.

The ties that bind crickets great fast bowlers are their tremendous work ethic along with a level of determination and desire that borders on a form of madness.

You need the madness. McGrath definitely has it.

People who watch cricket on the television might think fast bowlers have an easy gig my goodness, theyre wrong. A fast bowlers lot is tough. Theyre often performing in temperatures well above the 30-degree mark, and even when their body aches and their feet blister and bleed, they must push on and try to get the breakthrough wicket the team is sweating on.

Its those demands that sort the strong-willed from the rest. Fast bowling is a pursuit where blokes with weak tickers fall by the wayside and perish. One or two might sneak through and last for a short time, but in my view, Glenn McGrath a bowler who has endured the test of time is one of a unique breed of athlete. Theyre big-hearted, theyre tough and theyre special. And they deserve our admiration.

McGraths longevity alone is something that must be admired. He competed at the highest level for 14 years and his career spanned 124 Tests at the time of his retirement it was the greatest number by a fast bowler.

I attribute Glenns ability to play that many Tests to several factors, including:

I took a genuine interest in Glenns career. I worked with him on a number of occasions, firstly with the NSW development squad at the SCG nets, then at the Cricket Academy in Adelaide, and after that in numerous private sessions. Over the years I found him to be likeable, respectful, professional and willing to take advice on board. McGrath was a model student and now he has plenty to offer the next generation of pacemen as a teacher and mentor.

Glenn McGrath will be remembered as one of crickets greatest fast bowlers, and for good reason he took 563 Test wickets and created all sorts of records and milestones along the way.

He has long been compared to bowlers from other eras, but I dont like doing that because its a pointless and fruitless exercise. Its impossible to compare players from different eras because no matter how hard you try or how well you think itll work, it just doesnt. I know people will continue to make comparisons but I think thats unfair, because all you can go by is a players statistics and they dont always tell the true story.