'Aussies don't dwell on past'

Glenn McGrath: I think Shane and I worked very well together. They talk about fast bowlers Lillee-Thompson for Australia working together but I think the way Shane and I worked together was pretty good. I think generally we were quite similar bowlers in respect that we were quite accurate and could build pressure. When you have two bowlers building pressure then something's got to give.

Shane is a class bowler and in my eye one of the best ever if not the best. Bowling alongside him got me a lot of wickets as batsmen just tried to survive against Shane because of what he could do with the ball and his accuracy. He could land every ball where he wanted. I think building up pressure in that partnership got both of us wickets and it definitely got me wickets.

Gaurav Kalra: More importantly working in a partnership helped and you have made that point but also bringing a variety of skills to the cricket field. A lot of teams like South Africa talk of not having a big spinner in their ranks. This variety that Australian cricket had on offer with you and Warne together was a big impact on the win record that Australia had.

Glenn McGrath: Yes, massive. We had some quality fast bowlers and with Shane, who could turn on any wicket, we had every base covered. I think the Australian team were lucky because the calibre of Shane Warne meant we could play against any team with four bowlers. That’s all we needed. We could strengthen our batting order and I feel very luck to have played in such a successful era of Australian cricket.

Gaurav Kalra: Glenn, if you look at your career and all the wickets, you have nearly a 1,000 international wickets and that is an incredible record. Do you ever think about what you have managed to achieve individually and does it stagger you or was it a part of the course for you.

Glenn McGrath: I guess if you had asked me 14 years ago when I started my international career how I wanted it to turn out, it is not probably too different to what I wanted it to be. I think I was pretty focussed and had a clear plan as to what I wanted to achieve and there are times now when I sit back and think what I have achieved and what the team achieved and I nearly have to pinch myself to realise it is real.

I think we were just very focussed, looked to the next game, we learnt from our experience and really didn't dwell too much on the past. Now that I have retired maybe I can just sit back and reminisce just a little bit about what we have achieved in the last 10-15 years.

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