MCG bone-breaker takes first place
McGrath names top KP moment
Test legend Glenn McGrath believes the Kevin Pietersen controversies of the past week are typical of the sacked England batsman.
Pietersen has been under an intense media spotlight in the lead-up to and since the release of his autobiography, KP, in which he launches a scathing attack on former England coach Andy Flower and accuses former teammates of developing a “horrendous” bullying culture within the national squad.
“I was a little bit surprised with how hard he’s gone at some of his team-mates, but at the end of the day, KP likes to be in the news, he likes the attention and the controversy,” McGrath told cricket.com.au.
“He’s a great player, there’s no doubt about that. People would definitely pay money to come and watch him play; he’s exciting, he goes out there and is a very attacking, very confident player.
“So you still need those players in the game.
“What you think of him as a team player is a little bit different I guess, but I always enjoyed bowling to him – it was a good challenge, (but) it was probably towards the end of my career so he probably didn’t see the best of me.
“But I did enjoy bowling to him – he got me a couple of times and I think I knocked him over a few times.”
Pietersen made his Test debut in the 2005 Ashes in England, and clearly has fond memories of taking on McGrath throughout that epic series.
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“I saw on Twitter he’d listed one of his top five moments was putting me in the second tier at the Lord’s Test match, 2005,” McGrath added.
“I thought that was interesting; that was the game that we won (and McGrath was man of the match), so I’m more than happy with that.”
And while he dismissed him plenty of times throughout their tussles, McGrath relishes one particular moment when he dented the ego – and body – of his fierce rival.
“There was a one-dayer at Melbourne where he just kept charging me every ball, and I told him not to get too predictable,” McGrath recalls.
“Then I snuck one through and cracked one of his ribs – I don’t think he could believe I was quick enough to break his rib.
“That one’s in my top five when it comes to KP – probably my number one.”
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