Again, 'Our best bowlers are away injured' has never been accepted as an excuse for any side's non-performance (vide, to cite just one instance, Pakistan minus both Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram in several games in the recent past, or India

without Srinath in the West Indies). However, the following table charts Australia's recent outings, with and without the strike bowlers now being mentioned.

Season	Venue	Opponents	McGrath's analysis	Gillespies' analysis	Result for Australia
1997	Birmingham	England	32-8-107-2 & 7-1-42-0	10-1-48-1	Lost by 9 wkts
1997	Lord's	England	20.3-8-38-8 & 20-5-65-1	Did not play	Draurn
1997	Manchester	England	23.4-9-40-3 & 21-4-64-4	14-3-39-0 & 12-4-31-3	Won by 268 runs
1997	Leeds	England	22-5-67-2 & 22-5-80-2	13.4-1-37-7 & 23-8-65-2	Won by an inns & 61 runs
1997	Nothingham	England	29.5-9-71-4 & 13.5-4-36-3	11-3-47-0&8-0-65-3	Won by 264 runs
1997	The Oval	England	21-4-76-7 & 17-5-33-0	Did not play	Lost by 19 runs
1997-98	Brisbane	New Zealand	32.2-6-96-2 & 17-6-32-5	Did not play	Won by 186 runs
1997-98	Perth	New Zealand	Did not play	Did not play	Won by an inns & 70 runs
1997-98	Hobart	New Zealand	Did not play	Did not play	Drawn.
1997-98	Melbourne	South Africa	17-9-20-1 & 28-11-57-1	Did not play	Drawn
1997-98	Sydney	South Africa	20-6-51-1 & 5-2-8-1	Did not play	won by an inns & 21 runs
1997-98	Adelaide	South Africa	Did not play	Did not play	Drawn
1997-98	Chennai	India	Did not play	Did not play	Lost by 179 runs.
1997-98	Calcutta	India	Did not play	Did not play	Lost by an inns & 219 runs

Summary:

	Test	Overs	Mdns	Runs	Wlts	Avg	Best	5WI	10WM
McGrath	9	369.1	107	985	47	20.95	8-38	3	--
Gillespie	4	91.4	20	332	16	20.75	7-37	1	--

Test record for Australia when:

	Test	Won	Lost	Drawn	Success%
Both were playing	4	3	1	--	75.00
Both were not playing	5	1	2	2	40.00
Only McGrath playing	5	2	1	2	60.00
Grand Total	14	6	4	4	57.14

Gillespie, for the record, last played for Australia against England in the 1997 Ashes Test at Nottingham. Since then, injury has kept him out of the next nine Tests -- his absence, thus, is of too long a duration to be mentioned in context of this particular series.

Which brings us to McGrath. Out of the last 8 Tests featuring Australia (beginning with the Brisbane Test against New Zealand which opened the year), McGrath has missed 5. In the Brisbane game, his five wicket haul in the second innings powered Australia to a huge win. Against South Africa at Melbourne, first, and then Sydney, McGrath did play -- with singular lack of success, being obviously hampered by the same injury that is now keeping him out of the side.

One fact jumps out at you when you examine this table -- before the two back to back defeats at Chennai and Calcutta, Australia hasn't lost a Test, in this time frame, because of the absence of McGrath. Which, I would think, pretty much puts an end to that argument -- while it is obvious that the Australian new ball attack would have had more teeth with McGrath, and preferably Gillespie as well, leading it, it is nowhere near mathematical to suggest that the presence of the lanky quick bowler would have significantly altered the result, thus far, of the ongoing series.

With which preamble, we move to a series of charts, each examining a different aspect of Warne's career.

Statistics: Anant Gaundalkar

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