The Hindu : Sport : Spellbinding show

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Saturday, Jul 23, 2005

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Spellbinding show

By Peter Roebuck

Even by his own elevated standards, Glenn McGrath's performance on a sunblessed afternoon at Lord's was spellbinding. Bowling with hypnotic precision and with precious few runs to protect, he dismantled his opponents, took them apart with the sort of controlled authority shown by Tiger Woods at the old course at St. Andrews. Not a ball, not a hair, not a thought strayed from the straight and narrow. Everything was part of the infernal plan.

McGrath is an extraordinary operator. None of his deliveries was fast, none bounced steeply, none swung or turned or curled or deceived the batsman. He did not bowl a slower ball, did not attempt a yorker and his bumper did not exactly singe beards. Most of his deliveries landed in the predicted place. Taken in isolation, none of his offerings was threatening. In theory he cannot blow out a candle. And yet he might as well have been sending down hand grenades.

After tea this selfsame trundler produced a burst that brought five wickets for 2 runs in 31 balls. His victims were not a bunch of incompetents intent on pushing and poking around with the suspicion children reserve for semolina. They were the top five batsmen in the second strongest cricket team in the world. They were playing in front of a partisan crowd, on their home pitch and they had just seen their opponents removed for a modest total. They were eager to put runs on the board. As they left the pavilion, their heads were full of positive thoughts. McGrath reduced them to a state of inertia.

The Englishmen repeatedly went back with caution alone in mind. Maybe they needed to put pressure back on the bowler.

The best and thinking

Not that the five-wicket haul was unexpected. McGrath has been turning batsmen into timid wrecks for years. Beyond a shadow of doubt he is the best pace bowler of the period. After all, his first wicket was his 500th in Test cricket, a tally matched by only three other operators, a leg-spinner applauding from slip, an offie wheeling away in Colombo and a tall Jamaican watching from the press box. Not bad company for a supposedly simple farmer from Narromine. In fact, of course, McGrath has a sharp cricket brain that takes apart the techniques of every significant opponent, remembers every wicket, executes every plan. He is a thinking fast bowler.

The contrast with the other members of the 500-club is telling. Everyone understands how Shane Warne and Murali take their wickets. Both turn the ball a yard and can fool batsmen with variation. Courtney Walsh is a closer fit, an untiring bowler who extracted bounce from any pitch and concentrated more upon craftsmanship than brute force.

Characteristic effort

In many respects McGrath's contribution at Lords' was typical of his career in that he made the most of his abilities and the prevailing conditions. Tall men are better placed than scuttling types to to take advantage of uneven bounce because they create an expectation that the ball will rebound. In every respect, he pushed his opponents onto the backfoot which made them vulnerable to anything surprising.

Not that the pitch was so awful. From the scorecard it may seem that it behaved like a disturbed snake but actually it was merely mischievous.

McGrath's long spell was also typical in the leadership he gave to the attack. Throughout his career he has taken upon himself the responsibility of taking the new ball, breaking the opening partnership, removing the opposition's leading player. No Australian, not even Dennis Lillee, has carried out these duties with greater distinction or more efficiency. McGrath is the most patient and economic of destroyers.

At tea, the Australians must have been feeling glum. Wickets had been thrown away, both in the morning and following mid-afternoon drinks (always a perilous indulgence) and their position was far from secure.

McGrath marched out and, in his own special way, created mayhem. He struck with his first ball and continued to take his opponents apart. He is a very great bowler and a worthy member of the club he has so recently joined.

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