Former Australian fast bowler Glenn McGrath was nicknamed ‘Pigeon’ because of his thin legs as a youngster. McGrath’s New South Wales teammate Brad McNamara gave him the nickname when he said, “You’ve stolen a pigeon’s legs, McGrath.” The pacer, who was born on February 9, 1970, is the most successful fast bowler in cricket history with 949 wickets across formats.
Glenn McGrath wasn’t the quickest or the canniest ever, but in a career spanning over 14 years, he had the simplest of tool kits for menacing returns – scalping a staggering tally of 563 Test wickets to end up statistically, if not otherwise, as the greatest ever fast bowler. His famous partnership with Shane Warne bullied oppositions, crippling them mentally to engineer improbable victories that helped an all-time great Australian side sustain its warfare.
McGrath’s genius wasn’t derived from his pin-like long legs that conspired his nickname Pigeon, and not from his lanky physique that hardly bordered on athletic either; McGrath’s selling point was his metronome precision: tidy lines and lengths boringly hurled in an infinite loop outside off, rivaling an all-devouring bowling machine, until either the batsman’s technique or his temperament yielded.
Born in Dubbo to Beverly and Kevin McGrath, Glenn Donald McGrath was spotted by Doug Walters at New South Wales. He eventually debuted at the age of 23, against New Zealand at Perth in 1993, after only eight First Class matches. A month later, he made his ODI debut against South Africa at the MCG. As soon as 1995, he graduated to become Australia’s bowling leader, snaffling 17 wickets during their tour of West Indies. In the return tour by Courtney Walsh’s men, McGrath followed up his performance by taking away the series honours in a 3-2 win.
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