BRISBANE, Nov 13: Glenn McGrath Tuesday defended his “ugly” bowling tactics during the final stages of the thrilling first Test draw against New Zealand here.

The Australian pace spearhead bowled defensively well wide of off stump in the closing stages of the match after Kiwi big-hitters, Chris Cairns and Craig McMillan, threatened to snatch the game for New Zealand.

New Zealand had been allowed back into the fight after rain at the Gabba ground forced captains Steve Waugh and Stephen Fleming to make bold declarations on the final day.

It almost backfired on Waugh when the Kiwis moved within 21 runs of victory with 18 balls left, but McGrath shut them down to secure the tense draw.

He flirted with danger and criticism by bowling well wide of off-stump, sometimes within centimetres of legal width, but he wasn’t apologising Tuesday.

“(Former wicket-keeper Ian Healy) came into the room after play and said it was good to see the ugly Aussies back in that you have to work really hard and look bad to save the game,” McGrath said.

“It’s good you have to work for one for a change. It got to the stage where they were well in charge of a game and we had to fight. “Fair enough, we bowled a bit negatively but we had to do that to tie them down.

“They had to play the shots so if we bowled in one area they could only score in one area.

“It took me until the last couple of overs before I finally found one point outside off-stump where I wanted to bowl. Before that it was a bit all over the shop.”

McGrath also defended the decision of the rival captains to make a contrived finish with the Test having been almost sabotaged as a contest by three days’ of rain interruptions.

“That’s the way we play the game. I would rather be criticised for being too aggressive than too defensive. I would rather see a game go like that than have a boring draw,” he said.—AFP