Glenn McGrath feels Josh Hazlewood will break his record in future

It ‘s always special when a Test legend stamps the mark of approval on a talented cricketer. It’s the best one can expect and that was the case with Australia’s fast bowling spearhead Josh Hazlewood when Test legend Glenn McGrath declared that the right arm fast bowler has the capability to become the most prolific bowler in Test cricket.

McGrath has likened the young bowler for long and felt that Hazlewood can surpass him if he continued to maintain the consistency with which he is performing at the moment. Hazlewood reached 100 career wickets at the MCG today when he took a simple return catch off Wahab Riaz, becoming just the fourth Australian to reach the mark before his 26th birthday.

With time on his side, McGrath says the sky’s the limit for the right-armer, but only if he stays disciplined and maintains his fitness. When comparing McGrath with Hazlewood, the former achieved the milestone in his 23rd Test at the age of 26.

“The challenge is there. If he can get there and do that, I’d be one of the happiest guys for him. Records are there to be chased down and be beaten and that (is a) little carrot to keep guys going, McGrath told cricket.com.au of his record.”

“To play 100-plus Tests and get 560-odd wickets like I took, if he can get there, then he’d have done pretty well. He’s only a young fella … but it’s up to him how far he goes. If he keeps up a good work ethic off the field … to keep strong, to keep fit. If he does that and stays very disciplined, who knows where he could get to?”

Hazlewood, who turns 26 on January 8, joined Graham McKenzie (23 years old), Shane Warne (24) and Craig McDermott (25) as the only other Australians to reach 100 wickets aged 25 or under. He is the 38th Australian to achieve a century of Test wickets.

The milestone comes in Hazlewood’s 25th Test, well short of the Australian record of 17 shared by 19th century quick Charles Turner and legendary leg-spinner Clarrie Grimmett.

In just a little more than two years since his Test debut, Hazlewood has become one of Australia’s most reliable sources of wickets and has missed only one Test – the fifth match of the 2015 Ashes series – since his first cap, against India at the Gabba in December 2014.

He has been the third-most prolific bowler in the world in that time, his 100 wickets in 25 Tests trailing only Indian spin maestro Ravichandran Ashwin (141 in 23) and England paceman Stuart Broad (104 in 28).