And what if he HAS been fooled by a change of pace, length or movement? It has been explained to you so many times now why when McGrath gets an edge from a ball outside off that would not have hit the stumps it is not simply a poor shot that I cannot believe that you still fail to understand it.
McGrath is the most consistently accurate seamer in the world. He bowls almost every single delivery in the right areas - you get very, very few gifts with McGrath. If he puts every ball in the corridor of uncertainty outside off stump on a length, batsmen are forced to play because of his ability to move the ball in. If they leave everything, he is capable of bringing one back off the wicket or in the air and hitting the off stump or the pad in front of it - this is why we see so many batsmen getting out shouldering arms to McGrath. Therefore, and this is the reason it is CALLED the corridor of uncertainty, the batsman is uncertain about which balls he can leave and which balls he can not, and therfore is forced to play at deliveries outside the off stump, which results in many of the edges we see so often from McGrath. Furthermore, a batsman needs to score - this is a basic fact of the game. McGrath is capable of bowling long, accurate spells and has a support cast of other accurate, economical bowlers. You cannot simply let him bowl maiden after maiden to you. Therefore, considering that McGrath does not often offer free scoring opportunities to the batsmen, if you wish to score you must play at balls that are in the same corridor - on a length outside off-stump. Again this creates a situation in which you may well edge the ball, given that the deliveries are on an awkward length and he is capable of moving the ball both ways off the seam or in the air. This is another cause for the many edges we see off McGrath.
The point is, these are NOT poor shots, they are batting errors (and every dismissal is a batting error, excluding run outs) forced by excellent, accurate and intelligent bowling. A poor shot is when you get a long-hop or a half-volley and hit it straight down the throat of a fielder, or when you go for a completely unnecessary waft at a wide ball that was never a threat. Putting your bat out when a ball is in the corridor of uncertainty because it is close to the stumps and could move back in to you is not poor batting, it is necessary. Plenty of batsmen don't do it as well, and they still get out. The ONLY way to be successful against McGrath is to be positive, and this is simply a fact. There is not one example of a batsmen succeeding against McGrath in recent times without being positive against him, taking your path and letting McGrath dictate terms to you by going on the defensive is NEVER successful. There are numerous examples in Sehwag, Vaughan, Tendulkar, Lara, Oram and so on where players have attacked McGrath and done far better against him.
