McGrath has developed technical flaws, says Lawson

Sydney: Australian pace spearhead Glenn McGrath, struggling to regain form after a lengthy injury absence, has a flaw in his bowling technique, former Test star Geoff Lawson said on Thursday.

Injuries are catching up with 34-year-old McGrath and he has had ankle surgery twice last year, and has missed Australia’s last nine Test matches.

McGrath has bowled over 32,000 deliveries in Tests and one-dayers and the sheer physical work has taken its toll. In 95 Tests he has taken 430 wickets — second only to Shane Warne (517) among Australians, and sixth on the all-time list. With five more wickets he will have only Muttiah Muralidharan, Courtney Walsh and Warne ahead of him.

However, there are questions whether McGrath can regain his old form and his next Test series is against Sri Lanka in Darwin and Cairns next month.

Lawson is among those who are not so sure about McGrath’s future in Tests and ODIs. He believes McGrath has problems with his technique.

“Technically, he’s still making some errors that we don’t normally see from him,” he said. “He’s been taking a big step in, in his delivery. When he runs straight through he’s much better.” Lawson said the flaw is restricting McGrath’s ability to get his right shoulder far enough around, which robs him of both speed and accuracy. “I have not seen him bowl so many wide balls and short balls for a long time,” Lawson said. (AFP)