McGrath set for return by CricketArchive staff reporter

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Player:

GD McGrath

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DateLine: 4th September 2006

 

Glenn McGrath will return to international cricket in next month's ICC Champions Trophy tournament in India after he was chosen Monday in a 14-man Australian squad.

 

Test cricket's leading wicket-taking fast bowler hasn't played since January when he stood down to support his wife Jane in fighting breast cancer.

 

There had been debate whether 36-year-old McGrath would have been better off playing domestic cricket to ease his way back into the game ahead of the Ashes series with England in November. But McGrath convinced the selectors to take him to both one-day tournaments in Malaysia and India.

 

The Champions Trophy is the only major international competition Australia has yet to win.

 

"We've decided that the best way for Glenn to make his way back into international cricket is to play international cricket," chairman of selectors Andrew Hilditch said in a Cricket Australia statement Monday. "We believe the combination of the Malaysian tri-series and the Champions Trophy is ideal preparation for what will be a huge summer of cricket for Glenn."

 

McGrath is delighted with his fitness work in the lead-up to the one-day tournaments in Malaysia and India.

 

"I'm finding it really well. I'm probably more excited for this season than before," McGrath said at the Australian team camp in Queensland last week. "I've had a good break. I've been training hard and working on a few things that I wanted to touch up on. To be honest I'm feeling as good as ever in the pre-season compared to other years. I'm further ahead than what I've been in the past. I'm actually heavier than I've been in the past and I've noticed that I'm quite a bit stronger than before. Hopefully that will transfer out to the middle."

 

But opening batsman Matthew Hayden failed to make the squad for India even though he was recalled to the one-day side for the leadup Malaysian tournament.

 

Wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist returns to the side as Ricky Ponting's deputy, and Shane Watson gets a chance to impress before the Ashes series, where he is bidding to make the side as a batting all-rounder.

 

Of those going to this month's triangular tournament against India and the West Indies in Kuala Lumpur, Hayden, Mark Cosgrove, Dan Cullen, Phil Jaques and Brad Haddin have been left out of the Champions Trophy squad.

 

"Australia has been successful in one-day internationals for a long time but we haven't won the ICC Champions Trophy and we've picked a side that we believe is capable of winning it," Hilditch said. "It is a strong squad which blends experience with some younger talent."

 

Australia play their first Champions' Trophy match against a qualifier in Mumbai on October 18. The tournament gets underway on October 7 with the final in Mumbai on November 5.