McGrath A Class Act, says Lara (9 April 1999)

9 April 1999

McGrath A Class Act, says Lara

Tony Cozier

Brian Lara may not think too much of Glenn McGrath's expectorating habits, but the West Indies captain has plenty of respect for the Australian's quality as an outstanding fast bowler.

"His performance in the series was something to behold," Lara said, following Australia's victory in the final Test in St. John's on Wednesday that squared the series and kept the Frank Worrell Trophy in their hands.

"It was a tremendous effort," he added. "Throughout the series, Glenn McGrath accounted for almost half of our team each and every time."

Lara described him as "a great competitor and someone all young fast bowlers should try and emulate" and paid tribute to his endurance.

McGrath's 30 wickets from 199.4 overs were the most by any touring bowler in a series in the West Indies, bettering the 27 by two other fast bowlers, England's John Snow in 1968 and New Zealand's Bruce Taylor in 1972, both also in four Tests.

His three dismissals of Lara increased the number of times he has dismissed the phenomental left-hander in Tests to ten.

Lara said their duels were "great contests" but his 546 runs indicated that he had slightly the better of the exchanges this time and the Man-Of-The-Series adjudicators agreed by awarding him the prize of a Rover car.

Lara explained that the most difficult times facing his great adversary were late in the day.

"The most worrying times were coming towards the end of a day's play when I just had to survive knowing I couldn't achieve anything with the bat," he said. "Those were the most testing times."

Only 24 hours earlier, Lara was so angered at seeing McGrath spit on the side of the pitch after delivering the last ball of the third day to Adrian Griffith, he went to the Australian dressing room immediately to complain.

He also reported the incident to ICC match referee Raman Subba Row, who reprimanded McGrath for "bringing the game into disrepute", activating a suspended US$2 200 fine imposed for an incident in the Ashes series against England in January.

The West Indies captain remained in awe of the continuing success and workload of his own fastmen, Courtney Walsh and Curtly Ambrose.

"Courtney has not only played in excess of 100 Test matches for the West Indies, but more than 12 seasons for Gloucestershire in England, where the workload over a five-month period is very hectic," he said of Walsh.

"He's someone who has bowled his heart out both for Gloucestershire and the West Indies," he added. "I can see him soldiering on for a little while, definitely until the world record. He can assess things after that."

Walsh's 26 wickets in the series took him to an overall tally of 427, seven short of the Indian Kapil Dev's record standard 434 and four short of New Zealander Richard Hadlee, whose 431 is second on the all-time list.

Lara was concerned that Ambrose was becoming injury prone, but happy he made it through the series "very well".

"He's looking forward to the One-Day series and the World Cup and, after that, the future is in their hands," he said. "They'll have to decide when it's best to retire."

Lara was also buoyed by the debut series of Barbadian fast bowlers Pedro Collins and Corey Collymore.

He said Collymore "looked very exciting" in his only Test, the fourth, while left-armer Collins would be "very effective" when he learns to bowl the ball that comes back in to the batsman.

Source :: The Barbados Nation (https://www.nationnews.com/)