Glenn Donald McGrath (; born 9 February 1970) is an Australian former international cricketer whose career spanned 14 years. He was a fast-medium pace bowler and is considered one of cricket's greatest bowlers and a leading contributor to Australia's domination of world cricket from the mid-1990s to the late 2000s. McGrath was a member of the Australian team that won three consecutive World Cup trophies, winning the 1999 Cricket World Cup, the 2003 Cricket World Cup, and the 2007 Cricket World Cup. In the 2003 final, he took the winning wicket of Zaheer Khan. McGrath was also a member of the team that won the 2006 ICC Champions Trophy.
Known throughout his career for maintaining an accurate line and length, McGrath displayed a consistency that enabled him to be one of the most economical and successful fast bowlers of his time. In terms of total career Test wickets taken by fast bowlers, McGrath is the third-most successful of all fast bowlers, behind James Anderson and Stuart Broad. On the list of all Test bowlers, he is seventh, and no bowler has taken more wickets at a lower average. He has also taken the seventh-highest number of one day international wickets (381) and holds the record for most wickets (71) in the Cricket World Cup. McGrath announced his retirement from Test cricket on 23 December 2006, with his Test career coming to an end after the fifth Ashes Test in Sydney in January 2007, while the 2007 World Cup, which marked the end of his one-day career, saw him win the man-of-the-tournament award for his outstanding bowling, which was instrumental in Australia winning the tournament.
McGrath later played for the Indian Premier League team of the Delhi DareDevils and was one of the competition's most economical bowlers during its first season.
McGrath is the director of MRF Pace Foundation, Chennai, replacing Dennis Lillee, who served for 25 years. He currently serves as president of the McGrath Foundation, a breast cancer support and education charity he founded with his late first wife, Jane.
McGrath was honoured during the seventh annual Bradman Awards in Sydney on 1 November 2012. He was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame in January 2013.
Career
Early years
McGrath was born in Dubbo to Beverly and Kevin McGrath. He grew up in Narromine, New South Wales (NSW), where he first played cricket, and his potential was spotted by Doug Walters. He moved to Sydney to play grade cricket for Sutherland and made his debut for NSW during the 1992–93 season. McGrath capped his rapid rise in the next Australian summer with selection in the Test team after only eight first-class matches.
McGrath's Test debut was against New Zealand at Perth in 1993–1994. In Australia's 1995 Test series victory McGrath took the approach of bouncing the West Indies team, including the bowlers, which had not happened before. In McGrath's biography, Ricky Ponting is quoted as saying:
County cricket in England
McGrath played for Worcestershire in the 2000 English County Championship, proving both successful on the field and popular with the county's supporters. In 14 first-class games he took 80 wickets at 13.21, including an outstanding innings return of 8–41 against Northamptonshire, as well as making his first-ever first-class half-century (55 against Nottinghamshire). He also played a few games for Middlesex in 2004; although accurate, he could manage only nine wickets in four first-class appearances for the county.
Against England (Ashes 2005 and 2006/07)
During the first Test at Lord's in the 2005 Ashes series McGrath became the fourth bowler in history to take 500 Test wickets with the dismissal of Marcus Trescothick. This wicket was also the start of a productive spell of 5–2 that led to England being bowled out for 155. McGrath took 4–29 in the second innings and was named man of the match in a comprehensive Australian victory.
thumb|left|upright|McGrath at a Test match at the SCG in 2007
McGrath trod on a cricket ball and injured his ankle the morning before the start of the second Test at Edgbaston and was unable to play in the match, in which England amassed 407 runs in one day against the McGrath-less bowling attack to win by two runs. He was rushed back when not fully fit for the third Test at Old Trafford, where he earned another five-wicket haul in the second innings of a drawn game, batting in a last-wicket partnership with Brett Lee in the last hour of the Test to deny an English victory. He then missed the fourth Test at Trent Bridge, which England won by three wickets, with an elbow injury. McGrath returned for the final Test at The Oval but he and the rest of the Australian team were unable to force a result and the match was drawn, giving England the series win. McGrath's injury problems are seen as a key factor in England regaining the Ashes, as their victories came in matches in which he was absent.
Australia hosted England in the 2006–07 Ashes series and regained the Ashes, beating England 5–0, only the second 5–0 series whitewash in Ashes history (the first time was by the Australian team during the 1920–1921 Ashes Series, and the later 2013–14 Ashes series). Having taken a break from cricket since April 2006, McGrath used the 2006 ICC Champions Trophy to reclaim his spot in Australia's Test XI. He took a six-wicket haul in his comeback innings in the first Test at the Gabba to set the tone for the rest of the series, with Australia winning back the Ashes in a record-breaking 15 days of play. McGrath took 21 wickets in the series at an average of 23.90, and scored 10 runs and took a catch in what would be his final Test series.
In his biography McGrath wrote:
Retirement
thumb|McGrath in his final test series – the [[2006–07 Ashes series]]
On 23 December 2006, McGrath announced his retirement from Tests. His last Test was the fifth Ashes Test against England in Sydney in January 2007, where he took a wicket with the last ball of his Test career. He retired from all forms of international cricket following the successful 2007 Cricket World Cup, at which he became the leading wicket taker in the history of the World Cup, while also being the tournament's top wicket taker with 26 and being named player of the tournament. He was also named in the 'Team of the Tournament' by ESPNcricinfo for the 2007 World Cup. His spell of 3–18 against South Africa was named as the fifth-best ODI bowling performance of the year by ESPNcricinfo voters.
Indian Premier League
McGrath was signed by the Delhi DareDevils for the 2008 Indian Premier League, the first season of the Indian Premier League. He played in 14 matches for the team and was the team's most economic bowler during the competition. He was re-signed for the 2009 competition but did not play a match. After playing twice for Delhi in the 2009 Champions League Twenty20, in January 2010 the franchise announced that it had bought out the remaining year of McGrath's contract, effectively bringing his cricketing career to an end.
Playing style
Bowling
thumb|right|McGrath bowling a wicket-taking ball to [[Kevin Pietersen at the SCG in 2007]]
McGrath's bowling was not of express pace. Rather, he relied on unerring accuracy and subtle seam movement, which he derived from his high wrist action and lengthy follow-through. His height (195 cm), combined with a high arm action, allowed him to extract extra bounce, which often surprised batsmen. In the later years of his career he developed as a swing bowler.
His uncomplicated method and natural physical fitness were significant factors in the longevity of McGrath's career. In 2004, he became the first Australian fast bowler to play 100 Tests. In the first innings of the ICC Super Series Test match in 2005, McGrath passed Courtney Walsh to become the greatest wicket-taker among fast bowlers in Test history.
thumb|left|300px|A graph showing McGrath's test career bowling statistics and how they have varied over time
McGrath was regarded as one of the best fast bowlers in the world and has had success against every opposition team, in both Test and one-day cricket. He deliberately (and publicly) targeted the opposition's best batsmen prior to a series in an attempt to distract them, a ploy that regularly worked. At the beginning of the Frank Worrell series against the West Indies he stated in interviews before the match that he would dismiss Sherwin Campbell for his 299th wicket, then remove star batsman Brian Lara for his 300th wicket the very next ball. This happened as planned, and he followed this with the dismissal of captain Jimmy Adams to complete a memorable hat-trick. The targeting of opposition batsmen was generally successful; he dismissed Mike Atherton of England 19 times—the most times any batsman has been dismissed by one bowler in cricket history. On the other hand, he targeted Michael Vaughan prior to the 2002/03 Ashes series in Australia, with Vaughan going on to score three centuries at an average greater than 60. He targeted Andrew Strauss in the 2005 series in England, who went on to score two centuries.
He also tended to engage in sledging of opposition batsmen and teams, though it did not always pay off. Before the 2005 Ashes series he predicted a 5–0 whitewash for Australia, and even said that if England won the Ashes he would return to Australia by boat, but England prevailed 2–1. However, this did not dissuade him from making a similar 5–0 prediction for the next Ashes series, in Australia in 2006/07, which turned out to be true. He finished his career as the most successful Test fast bowler and third-highest Test wicket taker.
McGrath established the tradition of a bowler raising the ball to the crowd at the completion of a five-wicket haul in 2001.
Fielding
right|thumb|400px|Glenn McGrath's Test career batting performance
McGrath was a competent outfielder with a strong and accurate throwing arm; while not known for his athleticism, he took an exceptional outfield catch on one memorable occasion in 2002 at the Adelaide Oval against England, dismissing English batsman Michael Vaughan from the bowling of Shane Warne, running many metres before leaping into the air and catching the ball with arms outstretched and body horizontal. His captain, Steve Waugh, described the famous catch as "a miracle" and "one of the great catches in history".