Returning: Australian Story

Australian Story returns to ABC next week.

The first episode “Bowled Over” spends time with legendary fast bowler Glenn McGrath and his family to talk love, loss and carrying on Jane McGrath’s legacy.

This episode is introduced by Rove McManus.

“Everyone has their own battles and challenges to face. Everyone’s got their own story, and it’s how you pick yourself up and carry on.” – Glenn McGrath

“Whatever was going on off the field, however tough that was for him, he could always switch it on. Come onto the field and bang, he was away.” – Shane Warne

At home with Australian cricket legend Glenn McGrath as he and his family continue to honour the legacy of his late wife Jane, who died from breast cancer more than 13 years ago.

Glenn looks back over a glittering cricket career and the evolution of the McGrath Foundation, which he co-founded with Jane, alongside her best friend Tracy Bevan.

When Jane’s cancer returned in 2003, she had a breast care nurse for the first time and that inspired the Foundation’s focus on providing free breast care nurses for all breast cancer patients in Australia. It is now well on its way to achieving that goal.

Glenn and Jane’s children, James and Holly, speak publicly for the first time about their mother’s legacy and their pride in the McGrath Foundation.

“I really do see the Foundation as a way of keeping my mum’s memory and her legacy and what she wanted to do alive in a sense,” says Holly.

They are also full of praise for the role Glenn’s wife Sara has played in their lives.

“She’s been great,” says James. “She’s taken myself and Holly and looked after us like her own children.”

Says Sara: “When you make the decision to be with someone, you take the whole package. I knew exactly what I was getting myself into but I knew that Glenn and I loved each other and we were going to make it work.”

In addition to Glenn, Sara, James and Holly, the episode includes interviews with former teammates Shane Warne and Steve Waugh, McGrath Foundation CEO Holly Masters, Glenn’s former trainer and close friend Kevin Chevell, McGrath Foundation Ambassador & Director Tracy Bevan and Jane’s breast care nurse, Alison Szwajcer.

8pm Monday on ABC.