A good red wine, Glenn McGrath feels, is like a good fast bowler.

“They say a red wine gets better with age. The same can be said about a fast bowler. They mature only in their mid-twenties, a little bit later than batsmen. So a lot of similarities there,” he says. McGrath knows something about fast bowling, having taken 563 Test wickets over a hugely successful career. It would seem that in retirement he has learned a fair bit about wines too.

“I don’t drink bottles and bottles everyday but I do enjoy a glass of wine,” he says. “I like some wine when I go to dinner with my wife, or when I’m just relaxing at home.” The former Australian fast bowler is in the cityas a brand ambassador for Hardy’s Wines. He favours no one wine over another, McGrath says, “Just depends on how I’m feeling, how hot it is, or what food we’re having. I don’t mind starting off with a white wine. I find them fairly easy to drink, the Chardonnays, the Semillons. But among red wines I prefer the Shiraz, something with a little bit more bite.”