Published: Sep 17, 2015, 05:33 PM (IST)
Edited: Sep 18, 2015, 08:19 AM (IST)
The McGrath foundation celebrated a decade since establishment by turning the Sydney Opera House pink. The idea for the organisation was conceived by Glenn McGrath and his late wife Jane McGrath after the latter was diagnosed with breast cancer. Jane tragically succumbed to her illness in 2008, but McGrath continued work with the foundation to raise awareness about breast cancer; an illness which is said to be curable if detected early. ALSO READ: Glenn McGrath and wife blessed with a baby girl
The McGrath foundation began as a small initiative with the thought that if even a single person benefitted from the foundation’s work, it would be worthwhile, but the foundation has managed far more than that. “It’s absolutely incredible,” McGrath told cricket.com.au. “Back when I first thought of a Foundation – and starting it – the whole idea was if you could help one person it would be worthwhile.
“To think now, 10 years down the track, so many incredible things have happened. We now have 105 nurses and those nurses have supported over 36,000 families… Hearing those numbers just blows me away,” McGrath added. A significant part of the foundation’s success lies in the annual pink Test match at Sydney Cricket Ground when the Australian team takes the ground in their usual white kits, albeit with pink emblems. “The first time the McGrath Foundation was partnered up with the Sydney Test, we just came into that Test match hoping to do our best, by halfway through day one, all of the Channel Nine guys got right behind it; we didn’t know what to expect but we were blown away,’ said McGrath.
McGrath looked back at his days as a youth when he dreamed of playing at the Sydney Cricket Ground and to have that very ground host the iconic pink Test leaves him satisfied. “Cricket was my life and my dream growing up as a boy in the country was to play cricket for Australia as a fast bowler and to walk on the SCG, which is my favourite ground in the world – my home ground,” McGrath said with pride.
“For it (the SCG) to be iconic as the Sydney pink test, the whole five days people come in pink and to see the ground awash in pink, both teams supporting the McGrath Foundation and everyone wearing pink – if you don’t wear pink you feel a little out of place, with big burly blokes turning up in pink – you know something pretty amazing has been created.
