Cricket: McGrath left stranded on 499 wickets

Glenn McGrath's wife, Jane (left), flew in especially from Australia. Picture / Richard Robinson

Glenn's McGrath much-coveted 500th test wicket is now destined to be taken at Lord's in the winter's Ashes opener.

The metronomic Aussie fast-bowler produced another searching spell on the fourth day of the third and final test, taking four cheap wickets to leave him teetering on the brink of world cricket's most famous milestone.

Watched yesterday from the stands by his wife, Jane - who flew to Auckland especially to witness the rare cricketing feat - McGrath added two more wickets to boost his career tally to 499.

Only three players have previously reached the mark, including just one pace-bowler - West Indian right-armer Courtney Walsh.

Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne tops the list with 583 wickets after taking another four yesterday, Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan has snared 532, and Walsh is in third place with 519.

McGrath, who said at the start of the tour that he didn't expect to threaten the mark, took 18 wickets in the series at just 15.72, and underlined his parsimony at Eden Park, where he had match figures of 50.2 overs, 25 maidens, 89 runs, and seven wickets.

Australia's next series is the much-awaited Ashes in England, and McGrath's likely day of glory will probably now come at the home of cricket, some time between July 21 and 25.

However, while McGrath is closing in on his defining moment, doubts still surround the fitness of New Zealand spin bowler Daniel Vettori, who ended the series with 196 wickets, and some serious questions about the state of his back.

Vettori was lightly bowled throughout the Eden Park test and appeared to be struggling with his mobility, raising fears that he may need to be rested for the upcoming series against Sri Lanka.

New Zealand Cricket yesterday released screeds of paper covering the progress of their highest-profile crocks, but further raised suspicions by making no mention of Vettori's status.

The only good news for Vettori yesterday was his position at the top of the New Zealand batting averages, his final tally of 198 runs at an average of 66.00 comfortably pipping Hamish Marshall's 269 at 44.83.