McGrath the firefighter comes to Waugh's aid

The world's No 1 bowler Glenn McGrath proved the "mateship" that exists in the Australian team extends further than the bounds of a dressing room. For it was the fast bowler who rushed to the aid of his captain Steve Waugh in an attempt to save his house from the bushfires that are raging in the suburbs of Sydney.

Waugh was in Melbourne at the time, but on hearing that flames were closing in on his Alford Point home, a 30-minute drive south of the city, he turned for help. And, as it normally is in a Test match, it was McGrath who he called upon in his hour of need.

"I got a phone call from Stephen, who was down in Melbourne, saying that Lynette [Waugh's wife] was at home with the kids by herself, so I just headed out there to help if I could," McGrath said. "The fires came up towards the back of the house and I was just keeping an eye on the embers flowing into the yard and over the roof. I was just looking for spot fires, but it wasn't too bad because the closest they came were 30 or 40 metres away."

The fires that have torn through the bush have paralysed the city and left an eerie, grey-brown haze hanging over it.

"I did a bit of hosing and was ready with a bucket should any have sprung up, but they have a pretty good system to protect them against the fires," McGrath said. "A few houses had gone up nearby, so that was a bit scary. All I did was get smoke in my eyes. I had a mask on, but I still inhaled quite a bit and I felt a bit shabby this morning."

Picturing the fearsome fast bowler wearing a mask instead of a snarl and with a bucket or hosepipe in his hand rather than a shiny cricket ball is difficult.

Fresh from a week's training in Adelaide Nick Knight, an England one-day specialist, has the task of taming McGrath during the one-day international series that starts next Friday. Knight has been England's most successful one-day batsman since his debut in 1996 and is the only English player to average more than 40 in this form of the game.

Australia, however, has not been a happy hunting ground for the Warwickshire opener. It was here four years ago that a loss of form led to him being eased out of England's World Cup plans only a few months before the tournament.

"That [not playing in the World Cup] was the biggest disappointment so far in my cricket career," said Knight after England's three-hour practice session yesterday. And speaking about his last experience Down Under and the problems he had, the left-hander went on to say: "I did all right here last time, but the one area I did struggle a little bit with was the bounce. The ball kept hitting the top of my bat not the middle, so that is something I have been trying to get used to in the last week or so."

The conditions will be exactly the same on this tour and McGrath, whose main attribute is his bounce, will once again be a major threat. "I have a few ideas of how to play McGrath," Knight said. "We have had some good battles and I'm looking forward to seeing how it goes again. It is going to be tough, but what a great challenge. I have played in some games now, and this is the biggest. I am really looking forward to it because I will be testing myself against the best."

The best have already shown in the Test series that they are very good winners. But losers? That is a different matter. If this happens they change the rules and this is what they have done after failing to qualify for the finals of last year's triangular series.

For the 2001/02 one-day series between themselves, South Africa and New Zealand the Australian Cricket Board introduced a bonus point system that awarded an extra point if a team beat their opponents by more than 20 per cent. The point was awarded for successfully passing your opponents' score in fewer than 40 of the allocated 50 overs or beating them by keeping the other side below 200 if you scored 250.

This system was used against Australia last winter when Stephen Fleming, the captain of New Zealand, gave South Africa a bonus point when he realised his side could not win the game. This was so his team, who had already qualified, did not have to play a resurgent Australia in the final. It was only the second time in 21 years they had failed to reach this stage of the competition.

Following Fleming's understandable act and the temptation it could give sides to rig games, the International Cricket Council decided not to use the system at the 2003 World Cup, which starts in South Africa in February.