McGrath confident of whitewash

BRIDGETOWN: Australian pacer Glenn McGrath says his side is confident of claiming the first-ever whitewash of the West Indies in the Caribbean.

McGrath, who missed the first two Test matches due to his wife falling ill, arrived last week from Australia for the remaining two Tests. “I think the way we are going it would be very hard for us to be beaten,” said McGrath, who participated in the six-wicket victory over the University of the West Indies (UWI) Vice-Chancellor’s XI at the 3W’s Oval at Cave Hill Campus on Monday. “I would probably be very disappointed if we don’t win the series 4-0 but we will take it one game at a time.” The 33-year-old McGrath admitted it was an unusual feeling watching his team rather than playing with them but wants to make up for lost time.

“It’s always different watching rather than playing,” McGrath said. “I would always prefer to be in the West Indies before, playing, but I had no doubts that the guys we had here were good enough to do the job,” added McGrath, who is ranked as the number one fast bowler in the world. McGrath has already taken 422 wickets in 91 Test matches at an average of 21.45 and hopes to add to his total in the remaining two Tests. He believes his three wickets in the warm-up match provided a great opportunity for him to fine-tune his preparation for the third Test that starts at Kensington Oval tomorrow.