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by Premasara Epasinghe

The ever smiling, meticulous, gutty fighter, 29 year Muttiah Muralitharan, added new dimensions to cricket, recently and proved that the "star actor" on cricket stage is not the Batsman, but the Bowler.

On the fourth morning of the Zimbabwe - Sri Lanka Test at Galle, Muralitharan bowled Zimbabwian Henry Olonga number 11 batsman for nought and thus claimed his 400th Test wicket. He created cricket history in the world, becoming the youngest bowler to get to this "magical mark", playing in his 72nd Test Match, to be quickest bowler to achieve this feat.

Spin bowling is sometimes extremely annoying and a challenging art. It can drive you to brink of frustration, but if you can dictate yourself to the task like "Murali", the rewards are many. Spinner can be a Wrecker and a Match winner. That's what Muralitharan did recently.

I was one of the happiest when Muralitharan captured his 400th wicket, a great milestone in his brilliant career.

Going down memory lane, my mind went back to the 11th April, 1998 when Marvan, Murali, veteran flag-bearer Lionel, my son Bhagya and I had dinner at Tilak Panapitiya's residence in the capital city of South Africa-Pretoria.

I told Muralitharan, that he will be the World Best Spinner in time to come and strive hard to achieve it and bring credit and glory to Sri Lanka. Today, he had done it and we all Sri Lankans are proud of him. Now, the target is 500 wickets and in years to come 600 wickets or more should be his target.

One great quality that I have silently noticed in Muralitharan is that he always put "country before self". He respects his teachers a lot. I still remember, how he honoured to his first "Cricket Guru" - Mr. Sunil Fernando - that great coach from Central Province, who coached Muralitharan as a Tiny Tot at the great seat of learning - St. Anthony's College, Katugastota.

Muralitharan is a great team man on and off the field. During the early months of 2000, just before the South African Tour, former President of the Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka Thilanga Sumathipala invited the then Minister of Sports Lakshman Kiriella to the Board Headquarters to meet the National cricketers. As the Press Secretary and as an official of the Ministry of Tourism and Sports, I too was present at this discussion. At this meeting it was Muralitharan, who was the spokesman for the entire team. He expressed his sentiments on behalf of the entire team and made certain suggestions. I was very impressed the way he spoke on behalf of club cricketers.

He said "Sir, I must tell you, that some of the club cricketers undergo lot of hardships. Boarding facilities, travelling, accommodation and financial problems are there for them. Kindly look into this matter. We, the Sri Lankan cricketers are fairly all-right. But, to improve the standard of cricket, you have to look after the down trodden cricketers. That is our appeal."

Words of Wisdom from the World Best Off-Spinner Muttiah Muralitharan. Greatness is that he spoke about others.

Muralitharan is the greatest bowler that Sri Lanka has produced. He is a cricketer with a great spirit. He is a rare gem in world cricket circuit. The great turn that Muralitharan extracts make him a lethal spinner - a tormentor of many batsmen in the world.

Unassuming Murali is a fine gentleman and a superb sportsman. I am sure Murali, you have many, many years more and you will be the Best Bowler in the world.

Good Luck.

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Copyright 2001 The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.
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