SHANE WARNE and Glenn McGrath were today on the verge of another milestone in their illustrious careers.

Warne's 2-65 on the opening day of the first Test against New Zealand at The Gabba yesterday took his World record Test tally to 543.

McGrath ended wicketless with 0-56 to remain on 454 Test wickets as New Zealand closed on 260-7.

That means the pair need the last three wickets between them today to reach the combined milestone of 1,000 wickets.

The duo are already Test cricket's most prolific combination among bowlers who have played for the same country at the same time.

West Indies pace legends Courtney Walsh and Curtly Ambrose are the second highest combination with 924 wickets.

They are followed by the Sri Lankan pair of Muthiah Muralidaran and former Rose Bowl seamer Chaminda Vaas with 801.

Then comes Pakistan duo of Wasim Akram, another former Hampshire overseas player, and Waqar Younis with 787.

South African fast bowlers Shaun Pollock and Allan Donald are fourth on the list with 679 Test wickets between them.

It is unlikely that any pair of bowlers will ever overtake Warne, pictured, and McGrath, who have been Australia's main match-winners for over a decade and led their country's domination of world cricket since the demise of the West Indies in the early 1990s.

"Our goal was to reach 1000 wickets in India but we didn't, which was a bit disappointing," Warne said.

"We should be able to get five wickets between us here. I love bowling in Brisbane, it's the best wicket in Australia."

Regarding McGrath, Warne added: "He has got me a lot of wickets, how tight he bowls.

"We can dry it up or we can just nail them. Take a couple of wickets each and it's game over."

Warne entered the current series with 75 wickets against New Zealand at an average of 25.29 while McGrath had 30 at 32.57, which is down on his overall magnificent record.

"It's pretty amazing when you sit there and think about it," McGrath said. "He's got me plenty of wickets over the years and I've got him a few as well. Things seem to happen when we're bowling together."