Australian fast bowler McGrath announces retirement

SYDNEY: Veteran Australian fast bowler Glenn McGrath said Saturday he would bow out of cricket after the 2007 World Cup tournament, following in the footsteps of teammate Shane Warne.

After a training session in Melbourne ahead of the fourth Ashes Test starting on Boxing Day, McGrath, 36, announced that the Sydney Test match next month, on his home cricket ground, would be his last five-day game.

"It's probably a perfect or fitting ending," McGrath said. "It's only been the last few days that I've really thought about it."

McGrath, the most successful fast bowler in cricket history, said he would play his last limited-overs games at the World Cup in the Caribbean, which runs from March 11 to April 28.

Having taken 555 wickets in 122 Tests since debuting against New Zealand in 1993, McGrath is third on the list of all-time wicket-takers behind only Warne (699) and Sri Lankan off spinner Muttiah Muralitharan (674).