48 Facts About Glenn McGrath

Glenn Donald McGrath is an Australian former international cricketer who played international cricket for 14 years.

Glenn McGrath was a fast-medium pace bowler and is considered one of the greatest bowlers of all time, and a leading contributor to Australia's domination of world cricket from the mid-1990s to the late 2000s.

Glenn McGrath was a member of the team that won the 2006 ICC Champions Trophy.

In terms of total career Test wickets taken by fast bowlers, Glenn McGrath is the third-most successful of all time behind James Anderson and Stuart Broad.

Glenn McGrath has taken the seventh-highest number of one day international wickets and holds the record for most wickets in the Cricket World Cup.

Glenn 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.

Glenn 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, but he saw no action in the second season, ultimately having his contract bought out.

Glenn McGrath is the director of MRF Pace Foundation, Chennai, replacing Dennis Lillee, who served for 25 years.

Glenn McGrath currently serves as president of the McGrath Foundation, a breast cancer support and education charity he founded with his late first wife, Jane.

Glenn McGrath was honoured during the seventh annual Bradman Awards in Sydney on 1 November 2012.

Glenn McGrath was inducted into the ICC Hall of fame in January 2013.

Glenn McGrath was born in Dubbo to Beverly and Kevin Glenn McGrath.

Glenn McGrath grew up in Narromine, New South Wales, where he first played cricket, and his potential was spotted by Doug Walters.

Glenn McGrath capped his rapid rise in the next Australian summer with selection in the Test team after only eight first-class matches.

Glenn McGrath played for Worcestershire in the 2000 English County Championship, proving both successful on the field and popular with the county's supporters.

Glenn McGrath played a few games for Middlesex in 2004; although accurate, he could manage only nine wickets in four first-class appearances for the county.

Glenn 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 Glenn McGrath-less bowling attack to win by two runs.

Glenn McGrath 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.

Glenn McGrath then missed the fourth Test at Trent Bridge, which England won by three wickets, with an elbow injury.

Glenn 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.

Glenn McGrath 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.

Glenn 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.

On 23 December 2006, Glenn McGrath announced his retirement from Tests.

Glenn McGrath 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 being the tournament's top wicket taker with 26 and being named player of the tournament.

Glenn McGrath was named in the 'Team of the Tournament' by ESPNCricinfo for the 2007 World Cup.

Glenn McGrath was signed by the Delhi DareDevils for the 2008 Indian Premier League, the first season of the Indian Premier League.

Glenn McGrath played in 14 matches for the side and was the team's most economic bowler during the competition.

Glenn McGrath was resigned for the 2009 competition but did not play a match.

Glenn McGrath's height, combined with a high arm action, allowed him to extract extra bounce, which often surprised batsmen.

Glenn 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.

Glenn McGrath deliberately targeted the opposition's best batsmen prior to a series in an attempt to distract them, a ploy that regularly worked.

Glenn McGrath targeted Andrew Strauss in the 2005 series in England, who went on to score two centuries.

Glenn McGrath tended to engage in sledging of opposition batsmen and teams, though it did not always pay off.

Glenn McGrath finished his career as the most successful Test fast bowler and third-highest Test wicket taker.

Glenn McGrath was not known as a competent outfielder but he had 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.

Glenn McGrath's first wife, Jane Louise, was born in the United Kingdom and had worked as a flight attendant before their marriage.

Jane Glenn McGrath fought recurrent battles with metastatic breast cancer, having been first diagnosed in 1997.

Jane Glenn McGrath died, aged 42, on 22 June 2008 from complications following cancer surgery.

Glenn McGrath met Sara Leonardi, an interior designer, during the 2009 Indian Premier League.

In 2015 Glenn McGrath received widespread criticism when it was revealed he had killed a variety of animals during a hunting safari in South Africa.

In 2001, Glenn McGrath was one of just twenty-one Australian athletes inducted into the Australian Institute of Sport Best of the Best list.

Glenn McGrath was awarded the Allan Border Medal and the Men's Test Player of the Year by CA in 2000.

Glenn McGrath was awarded the Men's ODI Player of the Year in 2001.

Glenn McGrath was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 2011, and the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame in January 2013.

Glenn McGrath was inducted into the Australian Hall of Fame by the CA in 2013.

Glenn McGrath was twice involved in tenth wicket partnerships which added 100 runs or more, a record matched only by New Zealand batsman Nathan Astle.

Glenn McGrath held the record for the most wickets in an edition of the World Cup until this was broken by Mitchell Starc in 2019.

Glenn McGrath held the record for dismissing the most batsmen for ducks in Test cricket, until it was surpassed by James Anderson in 2021.