The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Glenn McGrath
What stood between Steve Waugh and the “Final Frontier” in 2001 and what made the Aussies conquer that “Final Frontier” in 2004 was this McGrath’s absence then and his presence later respectively.
Glenn Mcgrath is more of a self-improvement guru than an ordinary bowler to me. Here are his seven habits as perceived by me.
Be Proactive:
Make the batsman play every ball. No bowling well outside the off-stump and staying safe funda.
Begin with the End in Mind:
Every ball and every over is bowled with the batsman’s wicket in mind.
Put First Things First:
The first and probably the only thing that matters in pace bowling is putting the ball on or just outside the off-stump at three-quarters length with the odd in-cutter and the one that straightens up just in case the batsman is takng it easy.
Think Win/Win:
Always think Australia is gonna win again and again.
Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood:
Understand the batsman. Every batsman has a weakness. Its up to us to exploit them.
And its also important to convey yur intentions with the appropriate glare and some provocation just to unsettle him. One can use the media to good effect in this.
This works fantastic. Ask Brian Lara and Mike Atherton.
Synergize:
Work as a team with the bowler at the other end. It can be Warney or it can be Gillespie or Lee. Apply pressure on the batsman consistently. Sooner or later he is bound to crack.
Sharpen the Saw:
Always be willing to learn new techniques. Stay fit and injury-free. Keep your eyes and ears open to learn new tricks to snare the batsman. Try to find new weaknesses in each of them.
To know about the other side of Glenn McGrath, click here. A far cry from the ‘Play Boy’ type Shane Warnes of the world.
July 27th, 2005 at 12:50 pm
the link was nice…
me thinking Mcgrath is great!
July 28th, 2005 at 4:38 am
Very articulate!! In fact more so than the first ‘G’ on your list. (You seemed to have forgotten the double he got against the Proteas in a little under two and a half sessions)
Anyway, back to the Pigeon(as some of the Aussie media address GM), i don’t think he looks to take a wicket of every delivery, he just adopts, what SWaugh calls the technique of ‘Mental disintegration’, not the sledging here… but by keeping things very very simple, bowl the ball a few inches outside the off (read that ball after ball after ball), no need for much variety, just make the batsman offer a stroke to every ball that you bowl…..i wonder why it is that hard for other bowlers?
July 28th, 2005 at 6:30 am
Seven Habits to beat Glenn McGrath.. apdinu irundha useful-a irukum..
btw:Maganey..Ennoda link engada kanom?
July 28th, 2005 at 6:56 am
sundar,
its simple in strategy but hard to execute. disciplne is the key…
some of our bowlers just like our batsmen don’t know where the offf stump is:)
July 28th, 2005 at 7:01 am
prabz
beat McGrath? avlo kovama?
un link pottuten…seri feel agadhe:)
July 28th, 2005 at 11:40 am
mcgrath is paavan underrecognised in a team ful of stars who outshine him,
July 28th, 2005 at 12:03 pm
@monu
sorry missed u. yep Pigeon is a great character