Melbourne, June 23 : Former Australian cricketer Glenn McGrath has said that he wants his wife Jane to be remembered as an extraordinary person who inspired many others suffering from breast cancer.

"Jane would want those women who are battling breast cancer to stay strong," McGrath said.

"She would want them to draw strength from the fact she didn't only 'survive' breast cancer for 11 years, but during that time she lived life to the fullest and found pleasure in the simple things so many people take for granted," he added.

The English-born Jane McGrath, 42, died on Sunday.

McGrath said that he was devastated by the loss of his beautiful wife and best friend.

"This is also a very tough time for our children James and Holly. I am grateful they were able to spend the time they had with their mother. Both are only young, but as the years pass and they grow older I will ensure that they never forget how much she loved them. They were her world," news.com.au quoted him, as saying."

McGrath asked that the family be given privacy to grieve. Funeral details will be announced on the McGrath Foundation website in due course.

The wife of the former Australian cricketer died in Sydney on Sunday after a decade long battle with cancer.

Jane McGrath, who had battled breast and later bone cancer, had surgery earlier this year, and was recovering before complications set in.

ANI