Glenn McGrath - the epitome of line and length

Branding Glenn McGrath Australia's most successful fast bowler ever might just spark off a battle of generations - with Dennis Lillee loyalists taking offence. So, we shall stick to the irrefutable.

The most successful pacers in recent cricketing history, McGrath ended his career with the highest ever number of scalps by any fast bowler-563 - placing him fourth on the all-time greats list behind spinners Muralitharan, Warne and Kumble.

Right until his retirement from all forms of cricket after the 2007 World Cup, the Sydney local possessed the tireless ability to frustrate batsmen with a relentlessly accurate off-stump line and perfect length that he could bowl all day long. This skill brought him extremely economical figures which distinguished him from other quick bowlers who used to spray the cherry around in favour of a few yards of pace.

World Cup 2011

His constantly refining ability to swing the ball was an added asset in the latter half of his career. Another thing that set "Pigeon" apart was his wry smile and his enviable ability to rile up opposing batsmen with some well-timed sledging. A few carefully chosen words would be fed to the media just prior to a big tournament, and, lo and behold, the big names would fall for them like ninepins, just as he had predicted.

What is perhaps most covetable about his career is the impressive win-loss record he enjoyed at the World Cup stage, having won three out of the four tournaments he played for the Aussies and getting to the final in the fourth against Sri Lanka in 1996. His most productive spell in ODIs - 7 wickets for 15 runs - came against minnows Namibia in the 2003 World Cup.

But his best overall performance was in the 2007 World Cup, when he became the highest wicket-taker in the history of the World Cup with 26 wickets to his name. This was also the highest tally in the tournament and rightfully earned him the Player of the Tournament award.

After retiring from cricket in 2007, McGrath lost his wife to breast cancer which led him to set up the McGrath foundation to carry on work for breast cancer awareness in her memory.