McGrath Stirs Up Strauss Mind Games

It is still two months before veteran Australian bowler Glenn McGrath and England batsman Andrew Strauss go head-to-head in the first Ashes Test, but McGrath believes his rival has already lost the battle.

Currently with 499 Test wickets, McGrath looks set to become only fourth player in history to reach the 500-wicket milestone, and he could not wish for a finer start to his last tour of England than for his first victim in the Lord's Test, which begins on July 21, to be England hotshot Strauss.

McGrath claims that all the plaudits coming the way of Strauss, recently-crowned England's Player of the Year, could have a detrimental effect on the man who is likely to be the most potent weapon in England's batting armoury.

"I think he [Strauss] has already been lulled into a false sense of security," said the 35-year-old McGrath. "He's probably thought about it [batting against Australia] too much already."

McGrath cannot wait to catch the plane to England and confirmed that the operation to remove spurs from his ankle two years ago had been a total success.

"I'm feeling pretty good," he said. "I have always set my goals high but I have to pinch myself sometimes to see if it is real.

"I have never felt better with the three spurs on my ankle gone. Once removed there have been no problems in the last six to eight months."

McGrath will no doubt be hoping Strauss has a lot in common with former England captain Michael Atherton when confronted by the veteran paceman. Atherton struggled badly against McGrath, falling to him 19 times.

However, Strauss, who has averaged an incredible 56.64 with five centuries and four 50s in 12 Tests, has none of the mental scars inflicted on his team-mates by the world champions over the years because the 28-year-old only made his debut in May 2004 and is yet to face Australia.