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When he accepted a scholarship to the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) Cricket Academy in Adelaide, Ricky Ponting was only 15 and hailed by Rod Marsh, who ran the Academy, as the best teenage batsman he’d ever laid eyes upon. Ponting enjoyed mixing with the older blokes at the Academy and he accepted that everyone was different – but he viewed the fast bowler named Glenn McGrath as one of the more ‘interesting’ cadets. This McGrath was more like Crocodile Dundee than Dennis Lillee.
Although they were friends, Ponting realised that the bloke from the outback was someone not to mess with the day he walked into McGrath’s room and watched his handiwork with a knife.
‘We were given these big boxes of cereal at the Academy by the official breakfast sponsor, and I remember wandering into Glenn’s room for a chat one day and I saw he had them all lined up along the counter,’ Ponting says. ‘And then I saw why. He was armed with a small sharp knife and as he rolled across his bed like a soldier out of the commandos, he threw the knife and – BANG – it stuck into the cereal box! Maybe he thought he was hunting pigs in the bush.’
Another teenager, Brad Hodge, whose Test career would be crowned by a majestic double-century against South Africa in 2005/06, also remembers McGrath’s stint at the Academy for gorier things than his short, sharp bowling at the indoor nets.
‘I was just an 18-year-old kid from suburban Melbourne and Glenn would have been the eldest at the Academy,’ Hodge says. ‘I got to know him, but the first time I saw him watching a video on how to skin pigs and deers was a bit ... confronting. I’d never seen anything like it before. How do you think I felt when I then saw him throw his knives at the boxes of cereal? I believe he still has those skills.’
In 1992, Len Pascoe applied for scholarships to the Australian Cricket Academy for McGrath and 17-year-old Stuart Clark. They accepted only McGrath, because Rod Marsh believed the older player needed immediate help to build his frame up. Marsh ran the Academy in the manner of a drill sergeant. He demanded discipline and punctuality – and he’d go to extremes to enforce them, as McGrath heard on his first day when a cadet brought him up to speed on what to expect.
‘We discovered Rod didn’t tolerate slackers,’ McGrath says. ‘Apparently one guy didn’t wake up in time to go to training because he’d had a big night on the tiles. Rod is said to have literally dragged the bloke out of bed to do some extra training. The story went that even though it was the middle of winter, Marshy made him go to the beach and run in waist-deep water until his lips turned blue. It sounds harsh but – if it’s true – it was that kind of expectation that made the Academy so successful.’
When McGrath was given the scholarship to the Academy, he vowed to make the most of his time there and not to waste the opportunity. He found the calibre of the lecturers who gave their insights into the game made it impossible for him to give them anything but his total attention. And unlike his days at Narromine High, at the Academy McGrath threw himself into class discussions and wasn’t scared to ask questions.
‘I was always learning,’ he says. ‘One of my great thrills was the fact Dennis Lillee was there as a lecturer, and he was also on hand to oversee our net sessions. I listened to everything. I took in what the other cadets asked, I threw up heaps of my own questions and I absorbed the answers. I’d then go and try whatever sounded interesting. If it worked I’d finetune it, but if it did nothing I’d discard it and move on to other things.
‘But Dennis helped me in many different areas. He pointed out that the follow-through is just as important as bowling the ball itself. Dennis told me that if you have a good follow-through and slowly run down the wicket, it reduces the risk of injury from pulling up too quickly.’
Rod Marsh aimed to produce national or state representative players, which he achieved by enforcing discipline, hard work and responsibility. This regime produced players like McGrath, Ponting, Hodge, Adam Gilchrist, Peter McIntyre and Paul Wilson, who all represented Australia. As McGrath notes, other countries have copied the program, ‘and I think they took on board Rod’s old-school style’.
The Academy was established in 1987 with the intention of encouraging the cadets in its college-like setup to eat, sleep and breathe cricket. Marsh considered that teaching the young players about discipline and commitment was a crucial part of the curriculum.
When asked about the cadet he made run into the winter surf, Marsh says that he was probably a few minutes late for training. ‘I’ve always prided myself on being punctual,’ he says. ‘I mean, what happens if you turn up late to bat? You don’t turn up late for anything.
‘I believed that if I could instil discipline in their private lives, it would help them as cricketers as well. I never stopped them from celebrating if there was a cause to, but when the hard work was there to be done, we did it together.’
McGrath revelled in Marsh’s approach to cricket because it was in synch with his own philosophies and beliefs. ‘Rod and the Academy staff were great to work with because they believed cricket was a simple game complicated by too many people,’ he says. ‘Marsh also liked his students to have an uncomplicated style because he thought it was easier to add finesse to an individual rather than spend time undoing poor technique or rectifying sloppy habits.’
McGrath also learned a lot about nutrition and fitness at the Academy. He did strength-training at Adelaide University’s state-of-the-art gymnasium and swam laps at the state’s best aquatic centre. Having eaten chocolate bars for dinner because they were all he could afford as a bank teller in Sydney, he kept the kitchen staff at the Academy busy by eating as much food as he could wrap his mouth around.
‘We wanted him to pack some extra weight on,’ says Marsh. ‘He was also taking a food supplement, and rather than doing an aerobics class with the rest of the guys, he was assigned to do extra weight sessions. He was such a skinny bugger who just needed more beef.’
Marsh and his crew also prepared the Academy’s cadets for the mental and physical rigours required to succeed at state level by having them play four-day games. Although Marsh demanded the rookies give nothing but their best, McGrath discovered he was not unreasonable: Marsh accepted that a player could have a bad day.
‘What I liked about Rod’s approach was the fact he wasn’t driven by an individual’s stats – he liked flair and initiative,’ he says. ‘When I played against the Tasmanian second XI at Launceston, I was smashed in the first innings and finished with 0 for 100, and while I was disappointed, I didn’t drop my chin. I sat down and thought about where I went wrong and came back to take 4 for 50 in the second innings. And that pleased Rod because he could tell I’d learned from my mistakes.’
Marsh is adamant McGrath marked himself far too harshly during that first innings in Launceston, because his memory of the match is of a kid who showed plenty of ticker in tough conditions.
‘He was a tall kid that ran in pretty straight,’ Marsh says. ‘He looked as if he had control over what he was doing, too. If I recall correctly, it was a good batting pitch; you don’t look at figures in a situation like that and think one outing makes a career. If he’d have taken eight-for in that first innings it wouldn’t have changed my opinion. He was a prospect, and you always look at fast bowling prospects. And the beauty of that, in my position, was if you make a mistake, well, you find the next one. But with Glenn, we didn’t make a mistake.’
On the back of McGrath’s effort in Launceston, former Test player Kerry O’Keeffe – now an ABC radio commentator with a cult following – urged cricket fans to jot down the name ‘G. McGrath’ as a player of the future. He wrote in his popular St George Leader column, ‘Come In Spinner’: ‘The mention of Sutherland’s Glenn McGrath as a potential NSW fast bowler is sure to raise a few eyebrows. Why I don’t know! This lad from Narrabri [sic] is very impressive.
‘Already he is under the notice of the state selectors; he set up the AIS Academy win over Tasmania’s second XI in Launceston last week.
‘For some time John Dyson has hailed McGrath’s virtues; his spells in Launceston suggested a growing maturity and a capacity to learn by mistakes. Jot the name G. McGrath down because you will hear more of him!’
In 1992 McGrath was selected to tour South Africa with the Australian Cricket Academy squad, along with Adam Gilchrist – who was the squad’s captain – and Ricky Ponting. Marsh told The Australian that the trip would provide both an invaluable learning curve for the players and a chance for him to assess the depth of South African cricket ahead of the Aussie team’s tour there in 1994.
‘I just think it is a wonderful opportunity, because at some stage these guys are going over to play Test cricket in South Africa, there’s no doubt about that,’ Marsh said. ‘That’s the whole idea of the [Academy program], to go and play in these places before [the players] represent Australia in senior cricket.’
Marsh, assistant coach Richard Done and the Academy students also conducted a series of multiracial coaching clinics and visited numerous black townships.
‘That was an experience,’ McGrath says. ‘What stood out was the Africans had nothing, but they were happy a group of strangers took an interest in them. We were cricketers – it wasn’t as if we were superstars – yet they made each of us feel welcome. The kids loved it and I noticed there was a lot of natural cricket ability. But I was impressed most of all by their enthusiasm – it was infectious – and visiting the townships was one of the real highlights of the trip.’
McGrath found the South African cricket conditions to his liking. He sent the Northern Transvaal team reeling in the opening 55-over game by taking 3 for 12 from four overs. His effort helped the Academy XI blast the home team out for 136 to give them a 115-run victory. The Australians finished their eight-match tour undefeated. And there was one South African opponent whom McGrath, Ponting and Gilchrist would get to know extremely well in the ensuing years – Natal under-23s all-rounder Shaun Pollock, a gifted cricketer and future South African skipper.
Back in the Sutherland Shire, if McGrath expected Pascoe to treat him any differently after his return from the Republic following a successful wicket-taking safari, he was badly mistaken. Sure, Pascoe was pleased to learn that from 75 overs McGrath had bowled 21 maidens and taken 12 wickets for 200 runs at an average of 16.67, but he refused to allow the up-and-comer to rest on his laurels.
‘After spending time at the Academy, Glenn took an hour to warm up, an hour to warm down, but he hardly played,’ says Pascoe. ‘I remember saying to him it was okay to play for the Academy against the Mullumbimby XI, but if he wanted to get noticed by the state selectors he had to take wickets in grade. It was as simple as that.
‘As luck had it, we were playing Bankstown that weekend and they were known as “The World” then, because they had superstars like Steve and Mark Waugh, Steve Small, Wayne Holdsworth – you name them, they were there. I said to Glenn if he could take five wickets he’d be noticed. But I also told him if he could “helmet” someone – hit their helmet with the ball – he’d really be noticed.’
Len Pascoe and Jeff Thomson had formed a terrifying opening bowling partnership for Bankstown in the 1970s, so when state opener Steve Small recognised more than just a little of Pascoe’s brand of bowling in McGrath’s bombardment, he turned towards the pavilion and directed some choice words at his old team-mate.
‘Steve yelled at me I was feeding raw meat to my bowlers,’ laughs Pascoe. ‘But that was good. It meant Glenn was being recognised as a bowler to respect – and when he proved that day that he was good enough to helmet Mark Waugh, everyone was talking about his ability and his potential.’
Small recalls a fiery spell that made him and a few others take notice. ‘Mark was hit on the helmet and it seemed a good idea to stay down the other end for as long as possible,’ he laughs. ‘It was very hostile, but it was also very good.’
Mark Waugh recalled the delivery for The Sydney Morning Herald on the eve of McGrath’s Test debut in 1993, telling how the ball almost went for six after it deflected off his helmet: ‘He almost took my head off. I didn’t know who he was, all I knew was he was quick.’
His brother Steve, who was clean-bowled by McGrath for just 6, trudged slowly back to the pavilion certain he’d just faced a player he’d see a lot more of.
‘It was a flat, slow pitch and there was nothing in it for the pacemen,’ he says. ‘This lanky kid with a very short haircut and short long pants had an ungainly style. However, I remember thinking, “He’s got something about him, this bloke; he’s got a bit of get up and go.” He seemed pretty focused and his body language was pretty good. He came across as a simple and uncomplicated bowler who just went about his business in a quiet, productive way. It didn’t take much to see there was something more than the average about him.
‘I think Glenn was only getting used to his body. He was only young, and while he didn’t look uncoordinated, he was just ungainly. He had a simple, economical action as well. I think it just took him time to get to know his body because once he did, Glenn developed more pace.’
McGrath had found his feet. His time with Marsh had added an extra dimension both to his game and to his confidence. It made for a formidable combination, and the state selectors started to pay closer attention to Sutherland’s young fast bowler.