Warne-McGrath to retire from Tests

Australia's legendary bowlers Shane Keith Warne and Glenn Donald McGrath are all set to announce their retirement from international cricket on Thursday.

According to Australian media reports, Warne will announce his retirement effective from the fifth and final Test of the Ashes series in Sydney that ends on January 6.
He retired form One-Day cricket in January 2003 though he played an ODI for ICC World XI against Asia XI for tsunami relief on January 10, 2005.

The veteran leggie is one short of completing 700 Test wickets going into the fourth Test at his home ground in Melbourne.

Pacer McGrath is expected to announce his retirement from international cricket after the Test although he is expected to play on till the World Cup.

Reacting to the news that two of Australia’s premier bowlers would retire simultaneously, Cricket Australia's Peter Young said: ‘There is nothing we can say.’Those two players are the masters of their own destiny and the owners of their own futures and when they announce decisions on their futures is up to them.’
Just before the Perth Test middle order batsman Damien Martyn had announced his retirement sending shock waves across Australian cricket.

After the Perth Test win Warne had hinted that he was contemplating retirement.
With the Australian players and fans celebrating the Ashes series win, Warne said: ‘These are the things you're going to miss. I'm closer to the end than the bloody start.’

He has signed a contract with Channel 9 and will join the commentator’s team in 2007.
For more than a decade both Warne and McGrath have been the fulcrums of Australian bowling attack and together with Martyn's retirement, their departure will signal a generational change in Australian cricket.