Glenn McGrath made his Test debut for Australia at Perth on November 12, 1993, replacing the injured Merv Hughes. He took 3 for 142 in the match — modest figures, but the start of a 124-Test, 563-wicket career that would form the spine of Australian cricket for the next 14 years.
McGrath had been spotted in 1988 in country cricket by Doug Walters, who recommended him to NSW. He moved to Sydney in 1989, made his first-class debut in 1992-93 and was in the Test squad within the year.
Merv Hughes had a knee injury heading into the New Zealand series. The Australian selectors went with the unknown McGrath rather than promoting an established Sheffield Shield veteran.
McGrath was a 23-year-old from Narromine, a country town in central New South Wales. He had played just eight first-class matches before being called into the Australian Test squad for the New Zealand series. His debut at the WACA replaced an injured Merv Hughes — a generation defining-handover. McGrath bowled 39 overs in the first innings, taking 2 for 92 (Mark Greatbatch his first Test wicket; Chris Harris the second), and 1 for 50 in the second. Australia won by an innings and 222 runs. The figures were unremarkable — but the bowling action, line, and economy that would later become his signature were already evident. The 1995 West Indies tour was the breakthrough: 17 wickets at 21.71 across the series, fundamental to Australia ending the 15-year Caribbean dominance. By 1996 McGrath was Australia's spearhead. By 2007 he had retired with 563 Test wickets — at the time the most by any fast bowler in history.
First-class debut: 1992-93 NSW vs Tasmania
Eight first-class matches before Test debut
Replaces Merv Hughes for Perth Test, November 1993
First Test wicket: Mark Greatbatch caught at slip
1995 Caribbean tour: 17 wickets at 21.71
End of career: 563 Test wickets, 124 Tests, average 21.64
1992-93
First-class debut for NSW.
November 12, 1993
Test debut at WACA Perth — 3 for 142.
1995
Caribbean tour breakthrough — 17 wickets in series win.
1999-2001
Spearheads Australia's 16 consecutive Test wins.
January 2007
Retires from international cricket; 563 Test wickets.
“I just bowled the same ball over and over and waited for the batter to make a mistake.”
“Pigeon was relentless. He'd bowl ten overs at the same spot.”
McGrath was a permanent feature of the Australian Test side from 1995 to 2007. With Shane Warne, Brett Lee and Jason Gillespie he formed the most fearsome attack in modern cricket. Australia's record 16 consecutive Test wins (1999-2001 and 2005-2008) were both built on McGrath's lead bowling.
An understated debut for the bowler who would become Australia's all-time leading Test wicket-taker among quicks. The line-and-length revolution started here.
McGrath's economy rate (2.49 in Tests), strike rate, and consistency are the gold standards for fast bowling. His pre-series predictions of '5-0' and his ability to back them up became Ashes folklore. He retired with 949 international wickets and the McGrath Foundation (raising funds for breast cancer research) as a permanent legacy.
Yorkshire v Essex
1932-06-16
On 15-16 June 1932 Herbert Sutcliffe (313) and Percy Holmes (224*) put on 555 for the first wicket against Essex at Leyton, breaking the world first-class record for any wicket and adding a layer of folklore — including a scoreboard that read 554 for several minutes and a hastily reversed declaration — that has clung to the partnership ever since.
Australia v England
1933-02-14
With the fate of the Bodyline series in the balance and England 216 for 6 chasing 340, Eddie Paynter checked himself out of a Brisbane hospital where he was being treated for acute tonsillitis, taxied to the Gabba in pyjamas and a dressing gown, and batted for nearly four hours to score 83. England drew level on first innings, won the Test by six wickets and the series 4-1.
Australia
1934-09-25
Days after the 1934 Oval Test, Bradman fell seriously ill with appendicitis that progressed to peritonitis. With antibiotics not yet available, he was given little chance of survival; his wife Jessie left Adelaide on a sea voyage to England prepared for the worst. He recovered after weeks of intensive nursing in a London nursing home and returned to first-class cricket the following Australian summer.