“Some people have greatness thrust upon them. Very few have excellence thrust upon them.”

 

Some players go out on a whimper while some fortunate ones script their farewell to perfection. The world’s biggest stage in Barbados witnessed the end of a remarkable career stretching 14 years. McGrath’s final international match that resulted in a third successive WC win for the phenomenon that is Australia could not have ended his career in a much befitting manner. Going out on a high isn’t just a euphemism in his case. With McGrath’s swansong of a farewell, cricket will be a poorer place sans his presence. As someone who has been phenomenally successful and massively contributed towards the Aussie domination during the past decade or so, he will be forever remembered as a true architect that shaped the Australian supremacy and contributed greatly towards their superlative brand of cricket. To end up as the highest wicket taker of this WC iteration is the perfect icing on the cake.

 

The key to his phenomenal success, as he alluded to very recently, lay in the fact that his approach throughout his career has been quite simple. As aptly pointed out, “The less complicated you make things the less things can go wrong.” In this simplicity, though, lay utter sophistication and military precision. Like a surgeon bordering on obsessive attention to detail, McGrath’s outlook towards cricket was tinged with his painstaking attention for detail. With pin point accuracy, he had the uncanny ability to hit the target areas with alarming regularity, which cut him loose from the ordinary bowler. Not an express paceman, he relied on line, length and guile to grab his scalps.

 

Apart from his cricketing exploits, McGrath will also be remembered for his vocal spats with opposition players on and off the field. His predictions prior to a series by actually naming a player in his target list did smack of arrogance at times but the master craftsman sure knew what he was capable of doing and had the confidence to boot. Notwithstanding some bloopers on his prediction chart, like the 5-0 he predicted before England took glory in the famous 2005 Ashes series, McGrath will always be remembered as one of the greatest bowling exponents of all times. His legacy will live on in the same way as two of the other Aussie greats Dennis Lillee and Ray Lindwall.

 

He has well and truly sealed a perfect ending to a stupendous career. Here’s to thanking him for the great memories and wishing him a happy retirement.