McGrath aiming for next milestone

Having made Shane Warne favourite to be the top wicket-taker in the series before the Lord's match, bet365 have turned things around and now make Glenn McGrath favourite to come out on top for the the third Ashes tour to England in succession.

After his fabulous display at Lord's, those who questioned whether age had diminished his skills will be wiping the egg off their face - his nine for 82 proving the backbone of Australia's victory. Having begun as an 11/4 (3.75) chance he is now the clear 2/1 (3.00) favourite, while Warne, who also proved at Lord's that he is still a fantastic bowler, is now 9/4 (3.25) from 5/2 (3.50).

Steve Harmison, who was outstanding for the home side at Lord's, has also been cut from 4/1 (5.00) to 5/2 (3.50). Harmison's eight for 97 at Lord's boosted his Test tally to 129 in 31 matches, keeping his wickets per Test ratio well above the four mark.

Only once in the past six Ashes series - in Australia in 2002/3 - has an English bowler even finished as the joint wicket-taker. On that occasion, Andy Caddick took 20 wickets to share top honours with Jason Gillespie, but there were mitigating circumstances. McGrath played just four Tests and took 19 wickets, while Warne took 14 wickets in just three Tests.

McGrath has now taken 126 wickets in 23 Ashes Tests in all, while in England his record is an incredible 77 wickets in 12 Tests. In 1997, he took 36 wickets to Warne's 24, while last time round, in 2001, he had 32 to Warne's 31.

The vastly improved Brett Lee, who bowled with real pace and hostility at Lord's, is 6/1 (7.00) from 8/1 (9.00) to come out on top, while Flintoff is now the second-rated England bowler in the market at 11/1 (12.00). Simon Jones is 22/1 (23.00) while Matthew Hoggard is 25/1 (26.00) and Ashley Giles, who didn't take a wicket in 11 second-innings overs at Lord's, is 66/1 (67.00).

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