Hadlee says McGrath can reach 600 Test wickets

Glenn McGrath might have had some bad news over his continuing ankle problems, but his trans-Tasman predecessor as the King of Pace, Richard Hadlee, believes that there is plenty more left in McGrath's tank yet. Another 170 Test wickets in fact.

Sitting on 430 wickets, and set to pass Hadlee (431) and Kapil Dev (434) on the alltime list to move into fourth in the world, McGrath has been ruled out of Test cricket until Boxing Day at the earliest. Hadlee told The Australian that while Muttiah Muralitharan would be the first to get to 600 wickets, McGrath would be deserving of greater recognition when he got there.

"[Murali] is striking at five-six wickets per Test, [and] he is playing a lot of his cricket in subcontinent conditions where the ball is going to turn. Glenn is going to have to do it in all sorts of conditions, all around the world, and for a fast bowler that's going to make it that much harder."

Hadlee was 39 when he took his last Test wicket, in England in 1990. McGrath is 33, with plenty of time to achieve the mark. Dennis Lillee, the man on whom Hadlee based the changes to his bowling action that allowed him to continue for so long, believes the Australians could make life easier for McGrath by giving Brett Lee the new ball and allowing McGrath to adopt the elder-statesman's duties at first change.

"You'd almost toss a coin. McGrath is always going to do well," Hadlee said. "He's always going to get you wickets. Gillespie is a bit like Lee, good line and length, and explosive as well."

McGrath is more concerned about getting to 500 wickets than looking further down the track. It was time for reassessment, he said, and he would see how he was feeling before deciding whether he would play on.

"Glenn's been a wonderful performer over a long period of time," Hadlee said. "It's fair to say he is Mr Consistent. His admirable qualities are his stamina and his remarkable control of line and length, a nice subtle variation and he's a bowler his captain and team can rely on day in, day out."