Glenn McGrath believes it will be more difficult to fill the place left vacant by the leg-spinner.
Glenn McGrath feels the Aussies have the bench strength to replace him in the line-up when he bids adieu to cricket after next year’s World Cup but the World Champions will have a tough time finding a leg-spinner to take Shane Warne’s place in the team after he retires at the end of the Ashes.
‘’To me, he’s one of the best if not the best cricketer that’s been. I think Shane’s position’s going to be harder to fill. I feel with mine, the young guys are already there, and I’m sure they’ll go well given a chance,’’ McGrath was quoted by the ‘Sydney Morning Herald’ as saying. ‘’We’ve got Shaun Tait or Mitchell Johnson just to name a couple in the wings.
There’s plenty of fast bowlers around Australia who can come in and hopefully get a bit of experience and off they go,’’ he added as he listed his possible replacements in the team. McGrath said it would be a perfect fairwell for him when he plays his last Test in front of his home crowd at Sydney. And the veteran seamer said his side will easily get over the setback..
‘’I feel the cupboard’s not bare there. You only have to see what Stuey Clark’s done. I’m comfortable knowing there’s plenty of guys who can come in and take over my role,’’ he explained. ‘’It’s funny how it comes up that we (he and Warne) both retire from Test cricket at the same time. I guess you base your decision on gut feel. I feel it’s the right time, as well,’’ he added. McGrath said he announced his retirement as he was getting frustrated with the intense media frenzy and didn’t want the Aussies to be distracted by speculations.
‘’With the scrutiny and the hearsay and what’s happened mainly in the last few days I wanted to get it out in the open, so we could get back and concentrate on the last two Test matches,’’ he said.
