Glenn McGrath is one of the greatest fast bowlers of all time and he was equally successful in both the formats and that’s very rare for a bowler especially for a fast bowler and to have the longevity that he did was absolutely incredible. He was a Bowler of not express pace but of immense skill and swing as he used to bowl the ball in one spot then the ball did the rest. That is a very special skill to have.
Picking the Top 5 bowling performances by Glenn McGrath is even tougher than doing it for Shane Warne as Glenn was equally successful in both test and ODI cricket and there are countless memorable bowling performances to choose from so the lists will be very different from each other and that’s the fun part of it all as we discussed before. So , let’s take a look at the Top 5 best bowling performances of Glenn McGrath.
8/24 vs Pakistan at Perth (2004): McGrath’s best bowling figures in an innings in Test
This was Glenn McGrath’s best bowling performance in test cricket and it came against a good Pakistan team in the year 2004 at the famous WACA stadium in Perth which was known for its pace and bounce and that used to trouble the batters a lot so it is no surprise that Glenn McGrath had his best test performance here. This performance came in the second innings of this test match where Pakistan needed 564 runs to win this test match and then came Glenn McGrath and he was at his imperious best as he bowled a dream spell of 8 wickets for just 24 runs and won Australia the match.
8/32 vs England at Lord’s (1997)
Glenn McGrath vs England was a sight to behold as he held his best for his arch rivals and this test match at Lord’s was no different. Glenn McGrath loved having his name on the honours board at Lord’s and in this test match England were batting first and they were completely blown away by the genius that was Glenn McGrath as he destroyed the England batting line-up easily and they were bowled out for just 77 runs in the first innings and Australia won that test match quite comfortably.
5/14 vs West Indies at Manchester (1999)
After looking at a couple of his best Test Performances it is time for us to look at some of his best bowling spells in the ODI format and few will stand out than this outstanding performance against the West Indies in 1999. West Indies were batting first in this ODI match and they had no Idea what was about to come their way as they were decimated by the incredible Glenn McGrath as he ripped through and picked up 5 wickets for just 14 runs and West Indies were bowled out for 110 Runs.
5/37 vs New Zealand at Colombo (2002)
This was one of those pitches where there was little help for Glenn McGrath and yet he showed his greatness with the ball and while bathing first Australia posted a good score of 296 runs and New Zealand needed a strong batting effort to win this match but Glenn McGrath was standing in their way as he picked up 5 wickets for 37 runs and Australia won that match as well.
5/21 vs South Africa at Johannesburg (2002)
After looking at a couple of ODI performances by the great Glenn McGrath it’s time to look at one last test bowling performance by him and this one came against South Africa , in the first innings Australia got 652 runs and while resounding South Africa never got going because of Glenn McGrath who yet again picked up a 5 wicket haul and Australia bowled out South Africa for 133 runs and eventually won the match as well.
Glenn Mcgrath’s best bowling figures in ODI:
7/15 against Namibia in 2003 ODI World Cup
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