Injured McGrath wants a 'miracle'

Glenn McGrath needs a miracle to be fit for the crucial Third Test on Thursday, but he has refused to rule one out. After injuring his ankle during a training accident an hour before the toss at Edgbaston, McGrath felt like he'd let the team down and is desperate to return.

"People have asked me whether I will rush back or just wait to get it 100%," he wrote in his News Ltd column. "I want to be back as soon as possible and I'll be doing everything I have to do."

McGrath said the grade-two injury "isn't looking good", but he will have a greater idea of recovery time when he gets the results of MRI scans. "I guess I do feel as though I have let the boys down - even though I injured myself in a freakish accident," he wrote. "Even if I can't be back for [the third Test at] Old Trafford, I know the last two Tests will still be very important games."

Australia missed McGrath, who took nine wickets at Lord's, during the first innings at Edgbaston, but Brett Lee and Shane Warne covered his absence by dismissing England for 182 in the second. If McGrath is ruled out of the third Test he has another ten days to heal before the fourth match at Trent Bridge.