McGrath prepares to go out at the top

CRICKET:Glenn McGrath will warm-up for his final international match today happy he has once again confounded expectations to finish as one of the leading bowlers in the World Cup.

Many critics believed the 37-year-old seamer had chosen to carry on too long and his advancing age and diminishing pace would make him ripe for slogging during the early powerplays during this tournament.

But, not for the first time in his illustrious career, McGrath has responded superbly and has claimed 25 wickets already in the tournament - breaking the previous record for one World Cup of 23 set by Sri Lanka's Chaminda Vaas in South Africa four years ago.

It has been a typical response from one of the all-time great seamers in cricket history, who will finally end his career following the World Cup final at the Kensington Oval.

"I probably would have finished my career before this if it hadn't been a World Cup, but the fact it's such an important tournament and so big as a player to be involved in it made me want to finish here," said McGrath.

"I've got a lot of memories about Barbados as well. This is where I took my first five-for in international cricket and to me the perfect way to finish would be to take another five-for and to win."

Nothing underlined McGrath's skill better than in Wednesday's semi-final against South Africa in St Lucia when Jacques Kallis, their best batsman, came out to the crease looking to stamp his authority on Australia's veteran.

As McGrath ran in for another delivery, Kallis advanced down the pitch to give himself room, but was deceived by an off-stump yorker which continued on to the stumps and helped towards dismissing South Africa for a lowly 149.

"You rely on experience and I feel I can see if a batsman is coming at me," he explained. "I think I can change at the last second if I'm prepared for it.

"I've been really happy with the way it's coming out, I've been relaxed and I've been going into games with good plans and executing them reasonably well.

"Sometimes I've come on first change and they've been a couple of wickets down and I've been lucky enough to pick up a wicket six times in my first over and that always help you to settle and get into the game as well.

"It's been one of those tournaments so far where everything has gone right. We've got one game to go and if they want to come at me, that's fine - I feel I can adjust."

That type of experience and know-how has helped McGrath claim three man of the match awards already during the tournament and few would bet against him claiming another in today's final.

But as he prepares to put on the green and gold uniform for the last time, McGrath insists there is no emotion or nerves building up in him prior to his final ever match at this level.

"The way things are going at the moment, this just feels like business as usual, another day at the office. The fact that it is going to be my last game, I'm not sure when or if that will hit me.

"It might hit me when Australia play again or maybe after the final, but at the moment I feel the same as I have before every other game I've played."

Uncovered: 20 facts about McGrath . . .

1 The father of Australian sprinter Melinda Gainsford-Taylor persuaded McGrath to give up basketball for cricket.

2 Taught himself to bowl behind sheds using a 44-gallon drum as a wicket.

3 Lived in a beach caravan bought for him by his

mother while he was trying to make the grade in Sydney state cricket.

4 Worked in a bank. 'He used to sign withdrawal slips and pass them to girls and say "keep this, because I'm going to be famous one day",' said a colleague.

5 When future wife Jane moved to Sydney from Hong Kong she had no idea he was famous. 'People were shouting "Hey, Glenn" and "Ooh, ah",' she said. 'I thought "he's got lots of mates".'

6 Played against England in 30 Tests, winning 22, losing four and taking five wickets in an innings 10 times.

7 Claimed Michael Atherton's wicket 19 times in Test matches, the highest tally for any Test bowler against one batsman.

8 Nickname is Pigeon due to thin legs.

9 Melbourne band TISM released a single called The Parable of Glenn McGrath's Haircut.

10 Hunts wild pigs as a hobby.

11 Has 35 ducks in Test cricket, a record. In 249 ODIs his highest remains 11.

12 Shane Warne once bet $1,000 he would make a first-class 50. Eventually made 55 against Nottinghamshire.

13 Later made a career-best 61 against New Zealand and was given his own X61 bat, the only time a number 11 has had a bat named after one of his innings.

14 Saved Steve Waugh's house from a Sydney bushfire while the former skipper was away in Melbourne in 2002.

15 Took Brian Lara's wicket as his 300th in Tests, the middle wicket in a hat-trick.

16 Viv Richards wrote in his autobiography: 'I would trample all over him... If Glenn McGrath stepped in my way all I would have seen would have been a bag of bones'.

17 Wrote a book called Barbecue With The Master. Recipes included Moroccan lamb cutlets and smoky BBQ spare ribs.

18 Became the first fast bowler to play 100 Tests for Australia in July 2004 against India at Nagpur

19 Was called 'a bastard' by Mick Jagger in a newspaper interview.

20 Said if England won the 2005 Ashes he would return home by boat. England won 2-1. McGrath took the plane.