Behind the Mic

Discover exclusive stories and memorable moments shared during the recording

“The boys were playing this AFL modified AFL game, and Ricky's going to catch one of Michael Slater's jumped up with his spikes on and spiked him down the leg, sliced his leg open. And I went right there, boys, I think that'll do us. And Ricky was shut up, don't say anything. And I go, what do you mean? He had this big slice in his leg. He goes, just strap it up. If anyone sees that this has happened, we'll never be able to play this game again.”

"I was actually just pointing this out to someone the other day when one of the juniors was asking me, why do you need to be aerobically fit as a cricketer? I said, well, Ricky Ponting scored a 50. One of the first times we did heart rate testing back in the, I think it was late 90s, Ricky Ponting scored 50 in a one-day game. For about two and a half hours, his heart rate was 80% of his max for the whole innings. So it just shows you, if I told you to go out and run, for two and a half hours at 160 beats per minute. For most people, they wouldn't be able to get anywhere near that. And a lot of that's adrenaline response, but they have to be used to these heart rates. So that sort of gives you a bit of insight."

"It was an amazing tournament (2003 CWC). So, and I'll give you an example, Brett Lee. Our goal, mine and his, was to get him bowling 160 kmph an hour at that World Cup. And, you know, the hope was it was for the final. It happened in the semi-finals. So we were close, but that wasn't to do with me. That was to do with him. He gave up alcohol. Everything I asked him to do, he did and more. He gave up alcohol for a year, which, back then, for a young Australian was not a common thing to do. It's much more common now. But he was a real leader in that. And we just worked so hard for two years towards that World Cup. And it didn't matter which players we had in the team. We had a big squad. Whatever position we were in in a match, we always thought we could if we were behind in the game, we always thought we could get out of it."

"I just, when you mention those three names, I just smile. Just as you say, fantastic bowling attack and even better blokes. So I was lucky. I played cricket at Glenn's club and I had Brett and Glenn at New South Wales cricket before I started with the Australian team. There’s very few claims to fame for me for my own playing career. But I did replace Glenn McGrath in first grade at Sutherland for my first first grade game there. He went up to the New South Wales team, but we don't have to tell anyone that just that I replaced him. But yeah, I don't think it was much of a swap, a medium pacer for one of the greatest fast bowlers of all time. But yeah, so I always knew McGrath really well from a young age."

"And I think the big things for those bowlers, and I'll get to all of them because they've all got a magnificent story, is they never stop bowling. The most I would give them off would be one week after a long tour and then we'd, even when we were working on their speed or the strength or the power, we'd still be working on their bowling and just keeping their bowling, their body used to bowling, they're putting on any muscle, their body just gradually adapted to it, wasn't a big change for them. So I think that was one big thing. We're also so good with recovery and their strength and their control."

"Brett Lee, what an athlete. So I had him at New South Wales when we started. Running wise, he'd sort of be in the middle of the team. But within a year, he was the fastest or one of the fastest. He just worked so hard on his running, his speed. And there are some famous photos of him running with a parachute. I've still got that parachute, actually. And I had it at training the other day with some of my sprinters. I said it was Brett Lee’s. And they didn't know who he is because they're all young. This is the one Brett Lee used in the 2003 World Cup. He was just anything you asked him to do, he would do, no matter what."

"McGrath loved his rowing to keep his aerobic conditioning up. He'd also run, but he'd do sandhills, but I'd always do this speed work and do this specific fielding work on legs. And then Gillespie, what a player. So it doesn't get talked about as much as the other two, but when we had Warne, McGrath, Lee and Gillespie in the team, I thought, how could anyone beat this team? Seriously, like that bowling attack."

“So, an example, Mitch Johnson against South Africa, I think it was 2008. I could have got the years wrong. We have back to back tests in Australia, Christmas and New Year tests, Boxing Day tests, the New Year test. There used to be only two days break between them. So ridiculous, really. So, 10 days of test cricket versus South Africa on the fifth day of the Sydney test in his 105th over within that 12-day period, he (Mitch Johnson) bowled 146Kmph an hour ball to bowl Graeme Smith to win the test match in the second last over of the match. That's why you need physical fitness, the power.”