Another Atherton scalp: that makes it 11 for McGrath (24 November 1998 )

24 November 1998

Another Atherton scalp: that makes it 11 for McGrath

AFP

BRISBANE, Australia, Nov 24 (AFP) - England may not like it but the figures make ominous reading: Glenn McGrath is Michael Atherton's nemesis.

There was further proof on the final day of the drawn first Ashes Test here on Tuesday when the Australian pace spearhead got the former England captain's wicket again.

That made it a double in this Test and 11 in the last 16 innings that Atherton has batted against Australia, stretching back to the fifth Test in Perth in 1995. Atherton has averaged just 19.8 in scoring 297 runs during those 16 innings compared to his career average of almost 40.

Before leaving England last month, Atherton conceded McGrath had a habit of taking his wicket, but he did not see it as a major problem. But two more dismissals in Brisbane to McGrath -- for a duck and 28 -- point to a worrying trend. Atherton headed into the first Test with a long-term back injury and McGrath vowed to target him with short-pitched deliveries.

McGrath needed to bowl just one bouncer in the first innings before snaring Atherton for nought with a ball that drew the former England Test skipper forward, nicking an edge to Mark Waugh at second slip. Atherton came out in the second innings intent on starting England's victory chase aggressively and he looked impressive in McGrath's first over on Tuesday, playing three hook shots for two boundaries and a single.

But McGrath got his man half-an-hour into the final day when Atherton chanced his luck once too often and hooked the ball straight to Damien Fleming at fine leg. Australian captain Mark Taylor said McGrath would continue to trouble Atherton, who now has tour scores of 54, 53, nought, one, nought and 28. "He (McGrath) worries a lot of good players. I think Mike Atherton has compared him to (West Indies') Curtly Ambrose," Taylor said. "He's a very similar bowler to Ambrose in that he bowls a lot of balls you have to play and he doesn't give you too much to hit.

"So you end up thinking 'I'm going to have to play the hook because I can't see myself scoring anywhere else' and that's why he worries so many batsmen." Atherton's biggest problem against McGrath appears to be around off stump. Of the 11 times he has been dismissed by McGrath, six have been caught behind, three in the slips and two at fine leg.