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Glenn McGrath | Sydney: Glenn
McGrath has expressed remorse over his much-publicised confrontation with West
Indian batsman Ramnaresh Sarwan and vows it won’t happen again. The
premier Australian fast bowler was widely condemned for his mid-pitch rant at
Sarwan during the fourth Test in Antigua, won by the West Indies on Tuesday by
three wickets. McGrath said he had overstepped
the mark with his foul-mouthed tirade at Sarwan as the West Indies were charging
toward their record victory. The images of McGrath
finger-pointing and screaming at Sarwan over something he apparently said prompted
Australian Cricket Board chief executive James Sutherland to tell captain Steve
Waugh to rein in his players’ emotions. “I’ve felt
pretty terrible so I don’t want to feel that way again,” McGrath told Australian
Associated Press in the West Indies Thursday. “It’s
not something that just happens and then that’s finished. It’s something that
I do go on thinking about. I have worried about it quite a bit over the last few
days. “It has affected me. I feel like I am more
quiet than I normally am. I would like to have a time machine and change the things
I haven’t been happy with. “I just have to keep
working at it. The way to do that is to not put myself in that situation. If you
don’t work on something you might as well give the game away.” McGrath
has been involved in several on-field incidents during his international career,
but he admits to being taken aback by the fall-out of the Sarwan incident. He
said he was surprised by the amount of publicity the clash generated in Australia. McGrath,
33, said he was not making excuses for his behaviour after losing his temper with
Sarwan. AAP reported that McGrath had made a lewd
taunt to which Sarwan replied with a routine sledge suggesting McGrath ask his
wife the answer. McGrath’s furious response may
have been down to heightened sensitivity because his wife, Jane, recently began
treatment for cancer. “He was batting very well
to say the least. I could sit here and make plenty of excuses but it still doesn’t
justify why it happened,” McGrath said. “I guess I just got a bit frustrated. “Playing
for my country still means a lot to me, I play with a lot of passion, sometimes
I try not to cross the line too often but occasionally, the other day I got quite
frustrated. “It’s something that I have worked
on quite a bit, especially since becoming a father. I am a little bit disappointed
in myself that I did do it.” McGrath and Sarwan
have apologised to each other and both teams were on good terms when they shared
the same flight to Jamaica from Antigua Wednesday to prepare for Saturday’s one-day
series opener. McGrath admitted his outburst had
not done Australia any good but he did not believe the world champions could be
labelled sore losers. WI media hails win The
record-breaking victory by West Indies in the fourth Test against Australia was
hailed as a miracle and “a tremendous shot in the arm for the West Indies team”
by newspapers in the region on Wednesday. “3-mendous”
read the headline in the Barbados Daily Nation, which also ran a photograph
of West Indies players kissing the pitch at the Antigua Recreation Ground after
the home side achieved the 418 needed for victory. “Miracles
do happen in Test cricket,” the newspaper continued. “And lower-order batsmen
Omari Banks and Vasbert Drakes had the magic touch at the Antigua Recreation Ground
as the West Indies created history.” Meanwhile
the Jamaica Observer, which also quoted former West Indian players, described
the victory as “fantastic, brilliant and amazing”. | 
