Perth, Dec. 13: South African pace bowler Morne Morkel swears by the disciplined off-stump line bowling of former Australian bowling great Glenn McGrath.

Morkel, who has modelled his game on McGrath, possesses the same confidence about his abilities as his Australian idol.

Asked whether his pace combination with Dale Steyn and Makhaya Ntini was the best in world cricket, Morkel did not hesitate and was quoted by the Sydney Morning Herald as saying: "Yes, right now, we are definitely the best. And looking into the future, I can see us only improving."

Morkel’s honest assessment cannot be seen as a boast, as South Africa have won their last nine series, both at home and abroad, which includes eight wins from 12 Tests. It’s another matter that the opponents have been Bangladesh and Zimbabwe.

"When you move up to international cricket, people try to change a lot of things. But you must stick to what got you there. Glenn all these years just bowled disciplined lines on off-stump and he was the world''s greatest. I don''t see why I''d change and do something silly,” Morkel said.

"When I was younger I loved Glenn McGrath, and I still do. He was my role model. If I could spend five minutes with him in Sydney just talking about the game it will be great," he added. (ANI)