SYDNEY, Dec 31: Glenn McGrath is hoping captain Ricky Ponting will allow him to lead the Australian team out on to the Sydney Cricket Ground to mark his farewell Test appearance this week.

The great Australian fast bowler is playing in his 124th Test match in the final Ashes Test against England, which starts at the SCG on Tuesday.

It will be an emotional occasion for Australian cricket with McGrath, 37 in February, and leg-spinner Shane Warne playing in their last Tests after announcing their retirements.

Warne received a raucous send-off from his hometown crowd in the Test match in Melbourne last week and McGrath would relish the same reception in his hometown Sydney.

“It would be great if Ricky Ponting lets me lead the team on to the field, like Shane had the chance to do in front of his home crowd in Melbourne,” McGrath wrote in his column in Sydney's Sunday Telegraph.

“That would be a great honour. I will try to make the most of the occasion and enjoy the crowd, the cheering. I know that I'll be back for the one-day series, but this will be different.”

McGrath, who is Test cricket's leading wicket-taking fast bowler with 557 victims, is thrilled that his Test career will wind down at the SCG.

“It was three or four years ago when Shane Warne said to me how great it would be if we retired at the same time,” he said.

“It's funny how it's panned out, for that's what will happen at the SCG this week in the final Ashes Test.

“I feel lucky to have played in the era I did, and to have had Shane bowling at the other end. Perhaps it's fitting we both leave Test cricket at the same time.”

McGrath said the realisation of his impending retirement hit him after Australia's massive innings and 99-run victory in the fourth Melbourne Test for Australia to seize a 4-0 series lead.

“It started to hit me that this is going to be my last Test when we sang the team song after our sensational win in Melbourne,” he said.

“For the first time, it just didn't feel right, perhaps because I knew this may only happen one more time in my Test career.

“I'm not sure whether I'll have a tear in the eye when I walk on to the SCG, but there's no doubt I will have a quiet moment reflecting on my career when I am in the dressing-room.

“I generally keep my emotions in check and I expect that to remain the case in Sydney, where I want it to be business as usual.”—AFP