SYDNEY, June 2: Australian paceman Glen McGrath has already plotted the “perfect dismissal” he plans to inflict on England’s left-handed openers to snare his 500th wicket in the opening Ashes Test at Lord’s later this month. “I think the perfect dismissal is to hit the deck, go down the slope away from the left-hander,” McGrath mused at Australia’s Ashes training camp in Brisbane.

McGraw, who now has 499 wickets after nabbing seven scalps in his last Test against New Zealand in March, predicted the 500th will fall in his opening overs of the first Ashes Test starting on July 21.

Australia’s senior quick has no preference for which of England’s openers falls to give him the milestone.

“Whether it’s Strauss or Trescothick, they play and miss, and off-stump is knocked out of the ground,” he said.

McGraw will be only the fourth Test bowler to reach 500 wickets after fellow Australian Shane Warne, Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan and the West Indies’ Courtney Walsh.

The 35-year-old said that in any case, this his third Ashes tour would also be his last, “unless I’m mad”.

“To be involved in three Ashes tours in England is something pretty special and to have the opportunity to take my 500th Test wicket at Lord’s you couldn’t ask anymore than that,” he said.

McGrath acknowledged that England, ranked number two behind Australia by the ICC, had been improving its play, but chided them for counting too much on all-rounder Andrew Flintoff and fast bowler Steve Harmison.

“They’re playing far better as a team, but I think they rely on one or two players a little bit too much and I was disappointed with the way they played in South Africa,” he said of England’s 2-1 record on the southern tour.

“I thought they should have dominated South Africa far more than they did.”—AFP