5 high-profile bowlers and their bunnies

#3 Glenn McGrath / Michael Atherton

Glenn McGrath celebrating the dismissal of Michael Atherton

One of the most common sights, if you've grown up watching cricket in the 90s, is Michael Atherton nicking one off Glenn McGrath. In fact, he got out to the Aussie speedster 19 times in 17 innings.

The 90s were one of the most challenging eras for opening batsmen in Test cricket. The likes of Atherton had to face McGrath, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Allan Donald, Shaun Pollock, Courtney Walsh and the smiling assassin Curtly Ambrose in hostile conditions.

McGrath's complete domination over Atherton mirrored Australia's stranglehold over their Ashes rivals during that era. McGrath would simply run in, tease Atherton with his line and length outside the off-stump, get one to bounce, and induce an edge off the former English skipper's bat.

The damning numbers vindicate how Atherton became a mere shadow of the talent that he was because of McGrath's dominance. Before McGrath's debut in 1993, Atherton had scored 905 runs in Ashes Tests at 36.20, which included a hundred at the SCG in 1991. That average plummeted to 29.69 post the arrival of McGrath, and Atherton never crossed the three-digit mark in his last 17 Ashes Tests.