Glenn McGrath Quotes

There are two bowlers who I think are very tough to play against - Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel.

The wickets I have played on for my whole career, most of them have been to suit fast bowlers in Australia.

The likes of Ishant Sharma and Bhuvneshwar Kumar have done well, and so has Jasprit Bumrah in shorter formats.

I have batted well in Tests and always wanted to do well in ODIs, too.

When I was growing up, I played a lot of ten- and 12-over games, and I would bat in the middle order. I got only ten-odd balls to face, and I tried to score as much as I could. I applied the same approach in domestic and international cricket, and people were appreciating my strike rate being more than 80 or 90 in Test cricket.

During the peak of my career, I used to pick the ball as soon it was released from the bowler's hands. And I hit the ball through the line.

In the past, I bowled at players like Michael Atherton, Alec Stewart, Nasser Hussain, Michael Vaughan and Marcus Trescothick.

It was my wish to play in the challenging conditions in Australia. I love the bounce there.

With new fast bowlers on the international circuit few and far between, it's always good to see someone new coming through.

Opening the batting in Test cricket, facing up to fast bowlers looking to do their worst with a new, hard ball is incredibly tough. You have to be brave, single-minded and prepared to work very, very hard.

Playing with Morne Morkel and Dale Steyn, I am a very lucky guy. Not many people are going to attack those two, which means the batsmen will attack me. And if they attack me, there is always a chance I can get a wicket.

You see teams buy a lot of batsmen for a lot of money because they are good batsmen. But you also need good bowlers to get them out or contain the runs.

I love that feeling of being in a battle with the new ball, you're getting an opening batsman out while they are desperate to survive.

We all know just bowling won't do in modern international cricket, and we have to contribute with the bat and as a fielder, too.

The Oval has always been a good batting track, and there's not much for the bowlers.

I do enjoy batting - if the bowling's not quick!

The best player I've played with would be Graeme Swann, just because he's proved that regular finger-spinners can take wickets in international cricket for England.

They come with a lot of strategies in international cricket. You face bowlers with a lot more pace.

There is no doubt that Nathan Lyon is a great spinner but so were Shane Warne, Muttiah Muralitharan and Graeme Swann.

I think the more common players who have been around for a while - Joe Root, Alastair Cook, Jimmy Anderson, Stuart Broad - those guys I know of, they're fantastic players.

I don't think I ever worked harder at any match during my career to get runs as I did then, nor did I ever have to face in one game such consistently fast bowlers as the Australian pair, Gregory and McDonald.

When I faced the likes of Shoaib Akhtar and Brett Lee for the first time, I had a little bit of fear in my mind. My thoughts were, 'Would I be able to face them? Would I be able to play them? Would I be able to hit boundaries?' There were so many questions and fear, also, that if the ball didn't hit my bat, it might hit me on the body.

There is nothing quite like an Ashes trip Down Under.

We all know England conditions help fast bowlers.

In South Africa, you can get away sometimes because of the bounce. You may get away with full wide balls. In India, it does not bounce and finds the middle of the bat and goes flying to point or extra cover for four.