McGrath picks out Pietersen

Glenn McGrath has welcomed Kevin Pietersen to Tests by telling him to expect a different level of performance from Australia. Pietersen sealed his spot during the one-day series when he averaged 51.25 against them, but McGrath insisted he used the time to spot some flaws.

"We have picked up a few things in the one-dayers, certain shots he plays, and I think we've got a pretty good game-plan ready to go," McGrath said. "It will be interesting to see how he goes at the longer format of the game. The fact that he averages 50 in first-class cricket shows that he can handle it pretty well."

Pietersen is expected to join the batsmen Andrew Strauss, Ian Bell and Andrew Flintoff on Ashes debuts at Lord's on Thursday and McGrath believed the situation would benefit his side. "England have a lot of guys who haven't played against us before and they'll realise it's a different level when you play Australia," McGrath said.

It has already been a busy week for McGrath, who has also planned his 500th Test scalp and dismissed suggestions he has overtaken Dennis Lillee, who collected 355 wickets, as his country's greatest fast bowler. "I wouldn't put myself in the same class as Lillee," McGrath told The Courier-Mail. "He was more of a showman in the Shane Warne sort of mould but I am a bit more reserved. Lillee had the whole package. There was an aura about him."

William Hill has listed Marcus Trescothick as the 9-4 favourite for McGrath's milestone, but the bowler is happy if it is either opener. "To see the stump cartwheeling would be far better than getting a wicket caught at long-off," he told AAP, "but a wicket's a wicket, and there are 499 that have gone before it."