McGrath says miracle catch was a fluke

A catch to dismiss England dangerman Michael Vaughan on Sunday was dismissed as more fluke than miracle by Australia strike bowler Glenn McGrath.

The lanky Australian pulled off one of the great outfield catches when he sprinted 20 metres to take a diving one-handed catch at deep backward-square.

Australia captain Steve Waugh described it as a miracle and, while McGrath was happy to go along with his skipper's glowing assessment, he said he had just been lucky.

"I'm not taking too much credit for it, it just fell into my hands," McGrath said.

"It was just one of those things when the timing came out perfectly, I was on the right foot at the right time, the right distance away, I dived and it ended up in my hands."

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McGrath said he thought he had no chance of making the catch when he set off in pursuit along the boundary rope and could not believe his luck when he came up with the ball.

"I was bit slow in starting so when I got near the ball I thought I've just got to dive for it to make up for the slow start," he said.

"When I was in the air it was coming down in the general vicinty of where my hands were and I felt it touch one and go in the other.

"Similarly with a hat-trick, it's something you just dream about it."

McGrath's catch to get rid of Vaughan proved vital. The Yorkshire opener had made 177 in the first innings and was trying to save the match in the second but once he departed the English batting collapsed, handing Australia victory by an innings and 51 runs.

"It was an outstanding catch, one of the best outfield catches I've ever seen. I think it was a miracle," Waugh said.

"We weren't expecting him to catch it and neither was he but he just gave it everything and came up with the ball.

"It really was a pretty important wicket, they had a good partnership going then and they had some momentum so to take it away from then was great timing."

McGrath also played a leading role with his bowling, taking four for 41 in the second innings to pass Wasim Akram and move into sixth position on the all time wicket takers with 416.

McGrath is 103 behind the all-time leader Courtney Walsh and while Shane Warne is almost certain to overtake the West Indian paceman within the next six months and raise the bar even higher, McGrath said he had not given up hope of finishing his career as the most successful fast bowler of all time.

"(Warne) is slowly pulling away from me so it's going to be hard to catch him," McGrath said.

"To me 500 is the ultimate goal for a bowler and if I get there I'll reasses it and see how things are going.

"For a fast bowler Courtney Walsh is still the benchmark for a quick."

Bowlers taking over 400 wickets

Player	Country	Tests	Mdns	Runs	Wkts	Avg	Best	5w	10w
Walsh, C A	WI	132	1144	12684	519	24.44	7/37	22	3
Warne, S K*	Aus	106	1410	12522	488	25.66	8/71	23	6
Muralitharan, M*	SL	78	1125	10283	437	23.53	9/51	36	11
Kapil Dev	India	131	1060	12867	434	29.65	9/83	23	2
Hadlee, R J	NZ	86	809	9611	431	22.30	9/52	36	9
McGrath, G D*	Aus	89	1048	8917	416	21.44	8/38	23	3
Wasim Akram*	Pak	104	870	9778	414	23.62	7/119	25	5
Ambrose, C E L	WI	98	1001	8502	405	20.99	8/45	22	3

Mail Cricket Editor