In an era of attacking batsmanship the defensive bowler is king and Glenn McGrath is the best line and length bowler of the modern age.
His arrogant pre-series pronouncements about targeting opposition batsmen would be laughable were it not for the success he has had against the very best of them.
Michael Atherton would be the first to admit that he was McGrath's "bunny", having fallen 19 times to his fast-medium cutters in Tests, usually to balls in the "corridor of uncertainty". By the end, even a man as tough as Iron Mike was defeated before he went out to bat.
It's often stated that a more attacking game is the best way to knock McGrath off his impeccable lengths, but even the great Brian Lara has not had much success with the tactic, falling 13 times to the News South Welshman in Tests.
Sachin Tendulkar advised Michael Vaughan to attack McGrath before the last Ashes series and he had some success, especially with the pull shot to balls only just short of a length.
McGrath uses his height and perfect wrist position at the moment of delivery to extract uncanny nip from the pitch at a pace little more than 80mph. It is an ability that earned him 499 wickets in 109 Tests up to the Ashes at the miserly cost of 21.22 apiece.
Many thought we had seen the last of him after he spent a year out recovering from surgery. But, at the age of 35, he is bowling as well as ever and took 36 wickets in the six Tests prior to this summer's tour of England, making him still Australia's greatest hope of retaining the urn once again.
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Michael Slater's verdict: