VIDEO: Bowled Over | Glenn McGrath

INTRODUCTION: Hi, I'm Rove McManus and welcome to a new season of Australian Story. Tonight's episode is about a good friend of mine, cricketing legend Glenn McGrath. Glenn and I both know what it's like to lose a loved one to breast cancer. When Glenn lost his first wife Jane 13 years ago, he devoted himself to the Foundation they had started, which aims to provide free breast care nurses to patients across Australia. And, as tonight's story shows, honouring Jane's legacy has truly become a family affair.

GLENN MCGRATH, CO-FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT, MCGRATH FOUNDATION: I've never been a person that lives in the past, nor have I really been someone who lives in the future. I've been very much in the now and I think that's helped me in a lot of ways. Sure bad things are going to happen. And there's been some bloody tough things in my life, without a doubt. Everyone has their own battles and challenges to face. Everyone's got their own story, and it's how you pick yourself up and carry on.

(Filming McGrath Foundation promotional video at Sydney Cricket Ground)

Glenn McGrath: G'day there, Glenn McGrath here. Last year were all part of something special. A Pink Test truly like no other before it

(Jane McGrath Day, SCG, 2022 Media conference)

Tracy Bevan: Jane said to me, you fancy starting a charity, Trace? And I said OK what are we doing. She said we're going to raise funds for breast care nurses. Because she knew how tough it was going through breast cancer without a breast care nurse.

TRACY BEVAN, FRIEND AND CO-FOUNDER, MCGRATH FOUNDATION: One of the promises that I did make to Jane when I sat holding her hand just before she passed was that no matter what, the children would never forget her because that was one of the things that she was scared of.

HOLLY MCGRATH, DAUGHTER: I don't remember much about my mum. I was pretty young. But I think that makes me kind of cherish the memories that I do have a bit more.

JAMES MCGRATH, SON: The pink silk get stretched out in the field every year, you know, it just sort of brings back old memories and seeing her face again and that sort of thing.

HOLLY MCGRATH, DAUGHTER: I really do see the Foundation as a way of keeping my mum's memory and her legacy and what she wanted to do alive.

SARA LEONARDI MCGRATH, WIFE: When I met Glenn, he very quickly told me that he was a widower and that he had two kids. It was his story. I mean, people are who they are with the story that they have.

GLENN MCGRATH: Sara's 100 per cent behind the McGrath Foundation. She's part of this life. She can't get away from it and she's embraced it.

SARA LEONARDI MCGRATH, WIFE: Did I understand Jane's legacy? Certainly not from afar, but after being here I understand why Australia had so much respect and love for her. And I always thought if I passed away, how would I want somebody to take care of my kids.

GLENN MCGRATH: Going through with Jane what we went through, you realise what we worry about on a normal everyday basis is not important. But what is important is the people in our lives.

TITLE: Bowled Over

(Glenn at Caringbah Oval)

Glenn McGrath: This is where I first played when I moved to Sydney. It's still Caringbah Oval to me. When my kids, elder two kids, were younger, it was Daddy Oval. I think if you ask James or Holly they wouldn't call it Daddy Oval anymore.

JAMES MCGRATH, SON: I've always known about it, that he's sort of a big deal in the cricket world. It's always been around. The McGrath last name, it's not really a burden on me. Like, people expect you to bowl well. Don't expect much on the batting side.

STEVE WAUGH, FORMER AUSTRALIAN CAPTAIN: In the history of Australian quick bowlers, he's definitely up there. In our era he was the best.

SHANE WARNE, FORMER TEAMMATE: Whatever was going on off the field, however tough that was for him, he could always switch it on. Come onto the field and bang, he was away.

STEVE WAUGH, FORMER AUSTRALIAN CAPTAIN: He was always the guy that was up for the battle. And doing well, being the best bowler in the world, was his number one focus.

GLENN MCGRATH: I look back at it and sometimes have to pinch myself to think that I actually played cricket for Australia. What an incredible journey that would have been. I think, well, actually, I lived it.

(Glenn McGrath profile, 7.30 Report, ABC, 1995)

Reporter: Glenn McGrath is the most exciting fast bowler in years and his story, like him, comes straight from the bush. At school in Narromine he hardly played cricket, but later, he was blessed with every kid's dream. He was spotted. By legend Doug Walters.

GLENN MCGRATH: Rumour has it that Dougie thought I had a little bit of potential. And within the next few months I got the call up. Did I want to move to Sydney and give cricket a go? I didn't really know anyone in Sydney. So my mum and I decided we'd buy a caravan in Dubbo, tow that to Sydney. That's where I'm going to live.

(Glenn McGrath profile, 7.30 Report, ABC, 1995)

Glenn McGrath: The first 13 months was quite lonely and I look back at that time and I guess it was nearly a test of character to stick at it and just stick down here and get through things.

STEVE WAUGH, FORMER AUSTRALIAN CAPTAIN: We heard about this country kid who was pretty quick from Narromine. And he … tall, skinny and his pants weren't long enough. They're up above his ankles. So I thought, this guy definitely doesn't know what's going on. But as soon as he bowled, you knew he had something special.

(Glenn McGrath profile, 7.30 Report, ABC, 1995)

Reporter: Nicknamed Millard after the caravan, he lived in solitary simplicity and only for cricket. He sped into First Grade and then the Australian Test squad.

GLENN MCGRATH: When it happened, it actually happened really quickly and I just enjoyed it. It was as simple as that.

(Glenn McGrath profile, 7.30 Report, ABC, 1995)

Steve Waugh: You know he's got a nasty mean streak in him which is handy for a quick bowler and he hasn't got many brains which can also be handy for him as well. So he's a pretty good package actually for a quick bowler.

Reporter: Listen, you should be careful.

Steve Waugh: I've been giving you raps mate

Glenn McGrath: I'm used to it.

Steve Waugh: I'm giving you a rap mate.

KEVIN CHEVELL, FRIEND AND FORMER TRAINER: Glenn had a lot of things in his favour. First of all, he's very tall, which gave the ball a lot of bounce. He had a nice, easy run up and a lovely action. He was somebody that Mark Taylor, Steve Waugh, Ricky Ponting could always go to to get Australia out of a tight situation because he could absorb pressure

GLENN MCGRATH: With cricket you want consistency, ball after ball after ball and be able to do that. And that was something I found that I could do. I don't know, I think I just played for the right reasons. I just played because I loved it.

SHANE WARNE, FORMER TEAMMATE: It was just his relentless pressure, his consistency. And he's a great thinker on the game, too. He always outsmarted the batsmen.

GLENN MCGRATH: My goal was to play what I classed the perfect game where every single ball went exactly where I wanted it to. I could never understand setting a field for a bad delivery. I just thought, what's the point of bowling a bad delivery?

STEVE WAUGH, FORMER AUSTRALIAN CAPTAIN: It takes a bit of getting used to playing for Australia. All of a sudden you're sort of plucked out of obscurity, you're representing your country in front of big crowds and huge expectations. He came of age in the West Indies when he had to lead the attack.

GLENN MCGRATH: On The West Indies tour 95. The game plan was to go short at the opposition fast bowlers. I went on to get Man of the Match and it was the first time, I think, since I'd made the Australian team that I really felt I contributed to a win.

(Post-match interview, West Indies, 1995)

Mark Taylor: I thought Glenn bowled magnificently all Test. He bowled as quick as anyone in the game and really put his hand up and really came of age today in this Test match

GLENN MCGRATH: When I came back from the West Indies I was six five, six six and weighed 77 kilos. So there was nothing of me and I thought If I keep doing what I'm doing, I'm not going to have any longevity in the game. So I went out and found a trainer, a guy called Kev Chevell. One of the first questions he asked was, 'What are you prepared to do?' And I said, 'Whatever it takes.'

KEVIN CHEVELL, FRIEND AND FORMER TRAINER: I said, 'Well, that's the right answer. I'll see you out of Penrith next Tuesday morning at 6am. Don't be late.' And he turned up at 5:45 and never missed a session for the next 12 years.

GLENN MCGRATH: His attitude was not to train me for cricket, but to train me to be unbreakable. I used to look forward to the season starting to have a rest. To go and play a Test match in India in 45 degrees was having a rest or having a break.

After the West Indies tour I got invited to go and play in the Hong Kong Sixes for an Australian team. Went to a nightclub called Joe Bananas and met Jane there.

TRACY BEVAN, FRIEND AND CO-FOUNDER, MCGRATH FOUNDATION: Jane worked for Virgin Atlantic and she was on a stopover in Hong Kong. I used to ask how she how did she become Jane McGrath when Brendon Julian was with Glenn and I'm saying to her, 'What was you thinking?' She said, 'Don't be like that, Trace, I love him.' 'Yeah. But there's Brendon Julian and there's Glenn McGrath.'

GLENN MCGRATH: We got on well and stayed in contact and then she moved out to Australia, probably 12 months later.

STEVE WAUGH, FORMER AUSTRALIAN CAPTAIN: Glenn and Jane together seemed like the perfect match. They had this instant bond and they enjoyed each other's company. It was very evident from day one.

(Enough Rope with Andrew Denton, 2004)

Andrew Denton: When you and Glenn were first together, even though he was Australia's greatest and one of the world's greatest fast bowlers, you had no idea, did you?

Jane McGrath: No, no. We went to a friend of his who was having a BBQ, and the girl said to me, 'So Jane, what's it like going out with Glenn McGrath?' And I said, 'What's it like going out with your boyfriend?' 'Yeah, but Jane, Glenn's a superstar.' I was just dumbstruck and I said, 'What do you mean, a superstar?' 'Jane, Glenn's as famous as Robert De Niro', which he's never let me forget.

TRACY BEVAN, FRIEND AND CO-FOUNDER, MCGRATH FOUNDATION: I met Jane because I was married to Michael Bevan, an Australian cricketer.

GLENN MCGRATH: Jane and Tracy connected very early because they were English and both had Australian cricket husbands they really got on well.

TRACY BEVAN, FRIEND AND CO-FOUNDER, MCGRATH FOUNDATION: We were on a tour in 1997, an Ashes tour, and we were in a hotel in Canterbury. I had a knock at the door and Jane was just stood there with a towel wrapped around her and she went 'Give me your hand, darl', and she took my hand and she placed it on her breast, and it was like I had the wind taken out of me. Because I could feel like what I personally describe as like a frozen pea lump on her breast.

GLENN MCGRATH: We came home. Jane made an appointment with the doctor to go and get it looked at. And that's when everything sort of turned upside down for us. The doctor didn't muck around. He said, 'You've got breast cancer. The only treatment is mastectomy, followed by chemo, followed by radiotherapy.'

TRACY BEVAN, FRIEND AND CO-FOUNDER, MCGRATH FOUNDATION: The doctor had told her that she might not be able to conceive, to have a baby, but she didn't care what people said because to her, she was going to be a mother and she was going to do everything that she could within her power to have a baby.

GLENN MCGRATH: We waited 12 months to allow the chemo to get out of the system. And I think Jane fell pregnant straight away and James was born in January 2000. And then Holly was born in September 2001.

TRACY BEVAN, FRIEND AND CO-FOUNDER, MCGRATH FOUNDATION: It meant the world to Jane to have James and Holly, and she'd say to me that was her reason for fighting breast cancer. She'd say, 'It's not just about me or Glenn anymore, it's about my babies.'

KEVIN CHEVELL, FRIEND AND FORMER TRAINER: They were very happy, you know, getting on with life. Everything was going smoothly. Of course anybody that's been in an experience like that will always have something in the back of their mind that reminds them that possibly, you know, it may return at some point.

GLENN MCGRATH: They say sort of five years, if you can make five years, that's a great sign. So we got to about six years and again it was after a tour — I'd been away in South Africa for the World Cup in '03. We won that World Cup and again on a bit of a high came home. Jane had been complaining for a while about pain in her hip.

TRACY BEVAN, FRIEND AND CO-FOUNDER, MCGRATH FOUNDATION: I was cooking dinner and the phone rang and I picked the phone up and it was Jane. And all she said to me was, 'It's back'.

GLENN MCGRATH: I remember landing in the UK, getting the phone call and just everything turned to shit, basically, and I had to then get back on a plane and come back home and then sort of deal with what was happening then.

GLENN MCGRATH: I would have preferred to have stayed at home, but the most important thing to Jane at that time was for our life to get back to as normal as possible.

(ABC News, May 2003)

Glenn McGrath: Jane just wants a bit of normality back in her life and so that is me playing cricket and yeah so she's keen for me to get back into it.

GLENN MCGRATH: So I went back and and joined the team in for the last few Test matches of that tour. It was a tough time for me, without a doubt.

(ABC News, May 2003)

Reporter: When West Indian batsman Ramnaresh Sarwan mentioned Glenn's McGrath's wife, who's recovering from cancer, the champion fast bowler made it clear that he believed Sarwan had crossed the line.

GLENN MCGRATH: I said something. He came back and said, 'Why don't you ask your wife?' And then because what Jane had been going through that hit a nerve and it all blew up from there.

STEVE WAUGH, FORMER AUSTRALIAN CAPTAIN: It sort of blew up more than it should have and and probably caused a few problems for everyone, including the captain. But that was life. I mean he was going through a tough time

GLENN MCGRATH: That was one of those times where I take full responsibility and, you know, it was funny. Sarwan and I didn't really know each other, but we got on better after that than we did beforehand. So it's funny how things turn out.

GLENN MCGRATH: The one positive out of going through with Jane what we went through was there was a breast care nurse there. When Jane had the first diagnosis back in 97, there wasn't a breast care nurse available. And so we had to go through the whole experience by ourselves. This time, having Alison there, she was there to come along to appointments to answer any questions you had, to put your mind at ease, she knew what was coming up next

(Alison Szwajcer's office)

Glenn McGrath: Hi. How are you. It's been a while.

Alison Szwajcer: It has, it's been quite a while.

ALISON SZWAJCER, JANE'S BREAST CARE NURSE: I first met Jane when she was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer. When breast cancer metastasises, it means that it has spread elsewhere in the body.

TRACY BEVAN, FRIEND AND CO-FOUNDER, MCGRATH FOUNDATION: She knew that it metastasised. So one day breast cancer would take her life because once it was in her bones, she couldn't get rid of it.

(Alison Szwajcer's office)

Glenn McGrath: What we're achieving is because of you, really.

Alison Szwajcer: I'm just amazed at how much it's grown over the years

HOLLY MASTERS, CEO, MCGRATH FOUNDATION: Alison really was the genesis of why Jane wanted the foundation to be about nurses. When you get a breast cancer diagnosis, it's like being hit by a storm. And that nurse really helps to educate, create an environment of calm. Essentially, they're their voice, they're their advocate

GLENN MCGRATH: Having Alison there, Jane looked at her as an angel, a guardian angel.

(60 Minutes, 2003)

Jane McGrath: It's so important that you have someone that knows what they're talking about and has been down that road before. And they're there basically to hold your hand every step of the way.

GLENN MCGRATH: It allowed Jane when she was at home to be herself. It gave her identity or herself back. When she was at home, she could be a mum, she could be a friend, she could be a wife. And I think in that instance, that's probably one of the most incredible gifts you can give someone at that time.

(Retirement Press Conference, December 2006)

MC: To kick things off Glenn's going to open up with a few comments.

GLENN MCGRATH: I think everything that had happened off the field had an impact. Kids were growing up and I was spending a lot of time away from them. Everything Jane was going through as well and I just thought it was time to retire.

(Retirement Press Conference, December 2006)

Glenn McGrath: It's only been in the last probably few games that I've really thought about it and came up with the decision of finally hanging the boots up.

(Glenn in SCG change room)

Glenn McGrath: So played my last Test match for Australia here at the SCG. That was my locker down there to the left.

GLENN MCGRATH: I was interviewed that day and they said, if you could have one thing out of today, what would it be? And I said if I could take a wicket on my last ball in Test cricket, I'd be pretty happy.

(Glenn on the SCG pitch)

Glenn McGrath: I remember the last morning we had them nine down. I was bowling from the Randwick end, Warnie was bowling from the Paddington end here and I was lucky enough to get the wicket, the last wicket. You know, bowled a slower ball to Jimmy Anderson from around the wicket and he clipped it straight up in the air and Mike Hussey fielding over there at mid-on just takes an easy catch.

(Fifth Ashes Test, January 5, 2007)

Commentator: Glenn McGrath takes the final wicket with his final ball in Test match cricket.

(Glenn on the SCG pitch)

Glenn McGrath: And I got to walk off holding the ball, you know, to the crowd, you know, Warnie with me.

SHANE WARNE, FORMER TEAMMATE: I thought he got it right. I think we both got it right at the right time. I think there's a few sportsmen out there probably just hang on a bit too long. I think it's better to always go out on top.

GLENN MCGRATH: I remember walking around the SCG and I've got James and Holly in my arms, waving to the crowd, and it was an incredible feeling.

(Fifth Ashes Test, January 5, 2007)

Commentator: You're seeing a wonderful moment in the history of Australian cricket.

STEVE WAUGH, FORMER AUSTRALIAN CAPTAIN: I think the reception he got from the crowd was fitting. Australians loved him because he was the average person. He was one of them. I think a lot of people could see themselves in him and the way he behaved so they felt they were on the journey with him

(Fifth Ashes Test, January 5, 2007)

Commentator: Those are some of the most memorable scenes that we'll ever see.

GLENN MCGRATH: So I retired. And then, you know, unfortunately, Jane's health went downhill after that or very quickly after that and the rest is sort of history. We were told that because it had metastasised, it's just something you're going to have to live with for the rest of your life. I never considered that Jane could lose the battle. And everything was going well, you know, she was great. And I went off to play in the first Indian Premier League.

TRACY BEVAN, FRIEND AND CO-FOUNDER, MCGRATH FOUNDATION: She called me and she said would I come and stay with her until Glenn got back. What I didn't know was that we were spending the last days together.

GLENN MCGRATH: Trace found Jane on the bathroom floor and then just everything turned upside down from there. I got the call that Jane's in a bad way. And so I got on a flight and came straight home. James was eight and Holly was six. And I remember probably the hardest thing I've ever had to do was tell them that their mum … that their mum was going to die and so I told them, and within probably two days' time she passed away. And I think that wasn't as hard for me as telling the kids.

TRACY BEVAN, FRIEND AND CO-FOUNDER, MCGRATH FOUNDATION: When Jane passed, Glenn and I we made promises to each other that will always be involved at the McGrath Foundation, regardless of what happens, and that we would always keep the foundation true to what Jane wanted when she started it.

(Inaugural Jane McGrath day, January 2009)

Glenn McGrath: Hey Jamie, how you going. You good? Good to see you in pink, mate.

GLENN MCGRATH: So after Jane passed away the next Test match was at the SCG. Cricket Australia came to us and said we want to honour Jane's memory and change Ladies Day, which is day three, to Jane McGrath day. I think they might have thought it would be just a one-off.

(Cricket coverage of silk reveal)

Commentator: Yes, and there's the silk and that wonderful image of Jane.

TRACY BEVAN, FRIEND AND CO-FOUNDER, MCGRATH FOUNDATION: We got to day three, Jane McGrath day, and to see the ground a sea of pink, it was quite magical.

GLENN MCGRATH: And then we realised something pretty incredible had been achieved here. And then each year it just got bigger and better

SHANE WARNE, FORMER TEAMMATE: I think as much as it's probably an emotional day for him and his family, I think he still sits there in the middle of the Sydney Cricket Ground and feels pretty proud of what he's been able to achieve. And I think all of us as his friends and ex-teammates, we're pretty proud of him too.

GLENN MCGRATH: When Jane passed away, I thought how could I ever meet someone again, how can I fall in love again? How could I get married again? I just thought there is just no way.

(Sara and Glenn at home)

Sara Leonardi McGrath: It was kind of like when I moved out here you just have to have faith in the universe that it's going to work out.

TRACY BEVAN, FRIEND AND CO-FOUNDER, MCGRATH FOUNDATION: So a year after Jane passed, Glenn was in South Africa playing cricket, and that's where he met Sara.

(Sara and Glenn at home)

Sara Leonardi McGrath: I'd never even been to Australia so follow your heart and you just know. When you know, you know. Did you know?

Glenn McGrath: Apparently. Yes, honey, straight away.

SARA LEONARDI MCGRATH, WIFE: Glenn and I met at a party in Cape Town where I'd been living for three years. I remember asking him like, 'Oh, what do you do?' And he's like, 'Oh, I play cricket.' And I was like, 'Oh no, I mean, like, how do you pay your mortgage?' And he said, 'No, I play cricket.' I was like, 'Oh, OK.' And then my friends at the party explained what cricket was. I think it wasn't until we were actually dating that I realised how influential he was in the game.

(Sara and Glenn at home)

Glenn McGrath: It's coming up to 13 years since we met. How lucky have you been for the last 13 years.

GLENN MCGRATH: Sara grew up between Miami and Sicily. Her father's Italian, born in Sicily, her mother's Italian, but born in Venezuela. I just enjoyed being with her. She's fun, she's exciting. She's got all these ideas and never wants to sit still. Plenty of energy and just … we just connected. Just hit it off. With Sara, I love her completely. As I loved Jane.

SARA LEONARDI MCGRATH, WIFE: When you make the decision to be with someone, you take the whole package, you can't compartmentalise people's lives. And I knew exactly what I was getting myself into. I have situations of blended family with loss in my own family. So I had no illusions that things were going to be peachy, peachy, but I knew that Glenn and I loved each other and we were going to make it work.

STEVE WAUGH, FORMER AUSTRALIAN CAPTAIN: It would have been a lot of pressure. Jane was so popular with the public and people maybe thought that she came in quickly, but, you know, she handled herself extremely well.

TRACY BEVAN, FRIEND AND CO-FOUNDER, MCGRATH FOUNDATION: It must have been really difficult for Sara. But what I know Sara brought to the family was fun. Because it hadn't been much fun in the McGrath family for a long time.

SARA LEONARDI MCGRATH, WIFE: The kids were beautiful when I came. You know, I think in the back of my mind, I might have thought a million things. But when I first met James and Holly, like, literally got out of the car from the airport, the kids hugged me. So it was … it was nice.

HOLLY MCGRATH, DAUGHTER: I can't even imagine what it would be like to come into a relationship knowing that you're taking on the man, but also two kids as well. I think that takes a lot of kind of strength and courage to to be able to take that on and then to do such a good job at it as well.

TRACY BEVAN, FRIEND AND CO-FOUNDER, MCGRATH FOUNDATION: I witnessed something. So James had hurt himself and he came in and he was crying and I was there, Glenn was there, but the person he went to and threw his arms around was Sara, and I knew right then in that moment, she's doing a great job.

JAMES MCGRATH, SON: She's been great. She's really stepped up in our family incredibly. You know, she's taken myself and Holly and looked after us like her own children.

GLENN MCGRATH: I thought I'd never meet someone again. The other thing I was never doing again was having any more children. I had a vasectomy a few years after Holly was born, so it wasn't going to happen accidentally.

SARA LEONARDI MCGRATH, WIFE: It was kind of like, look, if we're going to have a child, biologically ours, it's now or never. And we knew we had to go through IVF and all of that.

TRACY BEVAN, FRIEND AND CO-FOUNDER, MCGRATH FOUNDATION: I know that Sara had a very difficult pregnancy and had to have a caesarean. I think it was about eight, seven, eight weeks before Madison was due and I know that was really difficult.

GLENN MCGRATH: She had pre-eclampsia. She was swelling up. She could hardly breathe. Her lungs were filling with fluid. And the doctor came to us and he said, 'We need to deliver your baby now because your wife will not be alive in six hours.' And I thought, shit, you know, here we go again.

SARA LEONARDI MCGRATH, WIFE: In the midst of all of that, we tried to find a little bit of humour, even though the situation was not funny at all. I said to him, 'If I'm gone like, you're absolutely undateable. Like, who's going to date you if I'm gone?'

JAMES MCGRATH, SON: When Madison first arrived she was a tiny little thing and we all took turns holding her in the hospital room, and it was just it was a surreal experience, you know. And to see .. to see and watch her grow up, it's been amazing.

HOLLY MCGRATH, DAUGHTER: She's just a little ball of energy and I can't imagine not having her around and as a younger sibling. Like I would do anything for her. I didn't think that we could kind of get closer as a family, but she's managed to help us do that.

TRACY BEVAN, FRIEND AND CO-FOUNDER, MCGRATH FOUNDATION: One of the biggest things for Jane was that the kids would forget her being so young, and I made that promise that they wouldn't. But what also helps me keep that promise to Jane and the children to keep her legacy alive is the McGrath Foundation.

HOLLY MASTERS, CEO, MCGRATH FOUNDATION: James and Holly have been involved their entire lives. But I think to me what's lovely to see now that they're adults is they're beginning to get more involved. So for the first time this year, they attended the AGM because they are members of the organisation.

(McGrath Foundation AGM, 2021)

Glenn McGrath: Good to go?

John Conde, Chairman: Yep.

Glenn McGrath: So thanks for coming in

SARA LEONARDI MCGRATH, WIFE: For James and Holly, it's very special. How could it not be?

(McGrath Foundation AGM)

Glenn McGrath: It was a tough year for all charities and foundations. But coming up with the idea for the Pink Test with the virtual seats was huge.

HOLLY MCGRATH, DAUGHTER: It was really interesting, to kind of see what it took to kind of run the foundation.

HOLLY MASTERS, CEO, MCGRATH FOUNDATION: They've lived as long as the foundation has in many ways and it has grown with them, and I hope that that connection will be there for the rest of their lives.

GLENN MCGRATH: I don't think there's too many people in Australia that haven't been touched by breast cancer in some way, shape or form. Jane and I decided to tell our story originally hoping to help one person. We had four McGrath breast care nurses employed when Jane passed away. As I sit here now, you know, we have 171 nurses. They've supported more than 100,000 families and individuals going through breast cancer and hearing those numbers just blows me away.

HOLLY MASTERS, CEO, MCGRATH FOUNDATION: We want to get to 250 nurses and we have set ourselves an ambitious target to get there by 2025 in order to make sure that everybody has a nurse for free no matter where they live.

(McGrath Foundation High Tea)

Glenn McGrath: Once we had Alison, our breast care nurse, she answered all Jane's questions. She was there at every treatment. She knew what was coming up next. Just put her mind at rest. So we realised how incredible these nurses are, and that's why we do what we do.

HOLLY MASTERS, CEO, MCGRATH FOUNDATION: Glenn's extremely generous and has been from day one and very involved. You know, he gives of his time entirely freely. It's completely pro bono.

SHANE WARNE, FORMER TEAMMATE: As well as he's done in the cricket, as well as he's done with his children and everything, I think that the McGrath Foundation is a legacy that will live on for a long, long time.

GLENN MCGRATH: It's never been about me. Jane never wanted it to be about her. She wanted it to be about our nurses and it's about the people going through it. If tomorrow they found a cure and there was no point, no reason to have the McGrath Foundation, that would be the happiest day of my life.

SARA LEONARDI MCGRATH, WIFE: It's his story. He lived it. Nobody lived it like Jane and Glenn did. You know, it's the legacy of Jane. It will be the legacy of Glenn, it will be the legacy of James, of Holly and of Madison as well. So it is a privilege to be involved with the foundation.

(Ashes Test Match, SCG, January 1999)

Commentator: Gone. Yes, that's well bowled. That's 200 Test wickets.

GLENN MCGRATH: I don't view myself any differently now than when I grew up in the country. I think, fair enough. I was lucky enough to do the things I did, but that's just what I did.

Test Match against West Indies in Perth, December 2000

Commentator: Gone. Glenn McGrath. There's 300.

GLENN MCGRATH: I think I've always been happy with who I am as a person, and I've always just tried to go out there and do my best.

(Ashes Test Match at Lords, July 2005)

Commentator: In the air. Out. That's 500 for McGrath. Wonderful cricketer. Brilliant bowling.

GLENN MCGRATH: I had a favourite saying – well it's still a favourite saying – by a guy called Mark Twain, he said 20 years from now, you'll have more regrets from the things you didn't do than from the things you did. And I think that's how we should live our life.