Factbox on Australian bowler Glenn McGrath who is retiring from cricket on Saturday after the final of the 2007 World Cup in West Indies.

Born: February 9, 1970, Dubbo

Right-arm fast-medium bowler

Teams: New South Wales, Australia

Debut: v New Zealand, Perth, 1993

Played 124 Tests, 563 wickets at an average of 21.64, best bowling 8-24, economy rate 2.49, strike rate 51.95. Runs: 641 at an average of 7.36, highest score 61, one fifty.

Played 249 one-day internationals. 380 @ 22.00, 7-15, 3.87, 34.02.

The most prolific fast bowler in Test cricket history and the spearhead of Australia's bowling attack for over a decade.

Third on the all-time list of wicket-takers behind spinners Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan.

Not the quickest fast bowler of all time, but specialises in unerring accuracy around off stump and good bounce and has achieved virtually every honour in the game.

• Also read: McGrath's wicket ways reign

Took 8-38 in the second Test at Lord's on his first Ashes tour in England in 1997.

Was named Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1998 and was a member of the Australian team that won the 1999 World Cup.

Won the Allan Border Medal as Australia's best player for 2000 and took a Test hat-trick against West Indies in Perth later that year.

Won a second World Cup for Australia in 2003, taking career-best one-day figures 7-15 in a pool match against Namibia.

Became only the fourth bowler to capture 500 Test wickets when he dismissed Marcus Trescothick in the first Ashes Test at Lord's in 2005.

Was named man of the match after steering Australia to victory but stepped on a ball on the morning of the second test and missed the match. Australia went on to lose the Ashes series 2-1.

Took an eight-month break from international cricket in 2006 to care for his wife Jane after she was diagnosed with cancer for the third time.

Returned to one-day cricket in October, helping Australia win the ICC Champions Trophy for the first time a month later.

Returned to Test cricket for the first Ashes match in Brisbane in November 2006, taking 6-50 in the first innings, to register his 29th five-wicket haul in Tests.

Helped Australia regain the Ashes after they won the second and third Tests to take an unassailable 3-0 lead in the series.

Takes the final wicket to fall as England are whitewashed 5-0.

Went into the World Cup final on Saturday as the leading wicket-taker in the tournament with 25 from 10 matches and an average of 13.04.