Calcutta: A devastated Glenn McGrath on Monday paid homage to wife Jane, who he described as his best friend. Jane died Sunday after a decade-long battle with breast cancer.

The Australian cricket team will pay homage to their retired pace legend’s deceased wife by wearing pink ribbons and using grips of the same colour in Tuesday’s one-day against West Indies in St Vincent (as reported in Monday’s Late City edition).

In an emotional statement, Glenn said: “I am devastated by the loss of my beautiful wife Jane. She was my best friend.”

“This is also a very tough time for our children James and Holly. I am grateful they were able to spend the time they had with their mother. Both are only young but as the years pass and they grow older, I will ensure that they never forget how much she loved them. “They were her world,” he added.

Glenn said his wife had shown that cancer patients could not just survive the disease but live life to the fullest.

“Jane would want those women who are battling breast cancer to stay strong. She would want them to draw strength from the fact she didn’t only “survive” breast cancer for 11 years, but during that time she lived life to the fullest and found pleasure in the simple things so many people take for granted,” he said.

“I would like to think Jane will be remembered as an extraordinary person whose courage and determination inspired so many people.

“I never took for granted the time I had with Jane and if there is one thing that can be drawn from her life, it is that every day is a blessing,” Glenn said.