McGrath to mentor young Australia players

Josh Hazlewood, Gurinder Sandhu and Kurtis Patterson, three of Australia's upcoming cricketers, will train under Glenn McGrath at the MRF Pace Foundation in Chennai, where he is a director, in a bid to prevent a repeat of Australia's poor tour to India early this year.

''India is so different to Australia in nearly every way - the climate, the conditions, the sheer amount of people there, the food, and then the playing conditions as well." McGrath told the Sydney Morning Herald. "It's going to be high 30s, early 40s every day. It'll be pretty warm.

''Hopefully when and if they do move up to play for Australia, they've had a little bit of experience in India and it's not such a shock culturally and the transition is a bit smoother.''

Hazlewood, the 22-year-old fast bowler, has already tasted international cricket, having come close more than once in the past three years to earning a Test debut. But injuries - to back and foot - have limited his representation in the one-day format.

His 20-year-old team-mates at New South Wales, Patterson and Sandhu, have got off to sensational starts in their domestic careers. Patterson became the youngest centurion in Sheffield Shield history when he scored 157 off 189 balls, with 22 fours and three sixes, also his debut knock.

Sandhu, a fast bowler of Indian origin, has 14 wickets in two first-class outings at an average of 11.85, including a five-wicket haul on debut. He was awarded the Steve Waugh Medal, given to the best New South Wales player in a domestic season, for 2012-13.

Sandhu is excited to be working with the fourth-highest wicket-taker in Test cricket. ''I'm treating it as a massive learning opportunity,'' said Sandhu. The players will train in Chennai till June 26.