McGrath bows out as leading man

Ricky Ponting talks to Glenn McGrath as he begins his final afternoon in international cricket © Getty Images

Glenn McGrath has signed off on his career by winning the World Cup's Player of the Tournament prize with a record 26 wickets. When McGrath stepped from the Kensington Oval he entered retirement and then collected his third World Cup winners' medal after seven weeks of bowling brilliance.

In 250 one-day internationals McGrath collected 381 wickets and his 71 World Cup victims in 39 games are 16 ahead of the previous mark set by Wasim Akram. McGrath, 37, has made continued high performance a trademark and he finishes his career in fifth place on the ICC one-day rankings.

One of only five players to reach 900 rankings points, McGrath reached his statistical peak of 903 during the seven-match ODI series against South Africa in March 2002. Only Joel Garner, Richard Hadlee, Shaun Pollock and Muttiah Muralitharan collected more points from the complex ratings system. McGrath holds the same spot in the Test records after capturing 914 points during the 2001 Ashes series.