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by Richard Dwight

No sooner, Murali claimed those four wickets in his spell of ten overs against England in the now concluded VB series. There was amongst some of us, the lurking feeling, that an exceptional feat such as this from Murali (viewed in the context of the shorter version of the game) - was bound to provoke, from none other than an irrational Aussie, from some corner of Australia, to cry wolf again. And sure as night follows day, there was the former Australian umpire, stirred may be from his reverie of sorts, harking back on that now old refrain that Murali is a chucker. This umpire appears to be one amongst a coterie of umpires, along with a set of commentators, who find it difficult to come to terms with Murali's bowling action being cleared as legitimate by the ICC. This small group of persons, associated with each other, in one form or another - prefer to ignore the ruling of the ICC. For the reason that their wounded pride does not allow them to accept the decision of the ICC and, so through sheer vanity, continue to indulge in their sadistic harangue, of making adverse comments on Murali's bowling.Never in the annals of world cricket has there been a bowler having to undergo such humiliation, embarrassment and inconvenience, as Murali did. Subjecting himself as well, to rigorous scrutiny and examination - the protracted controversy drew worldwide attention, not only to Murali but to the country as well. And when, he eventually triumphed over adversity, exhibiting much composure, equanimity and resilience of a high order, his image and that of the country too, soared to great heights. Despite all this, it's disheartening to find that this group of Australians monotonously keep on taunting him with that old refrain chucker. What seems to be bugging them, with a touch of parochialism and envy, is Murali's success rate. Comparatively at his age and lesser number of matches, he was fruitful enough to take 437 and 304 wickets in tests and ODIs respectively. Equally disturbing to his detractors, must have been the fact, that he was named as the best ever bowler by Wisden, which supports Murali's genuineness as a spinner. We cannot resist saying this, that Murali through it all must take respite in the truism 'that stones are only thrown at, the tree that bears fruit'.

There was much to be desired of the spectators as well. Their sordid behaviour in yelling and booing at Murali, was to say the least disgraceful. They should have known better, that Murali apart from being a cricketer, was in a sense an ambassador and visitor to that country and, as hosts should have treated him better. Lesser mortals would have wilted but not Murali, who was made of sterner stuff. Undeterred and cool as a cucumber, he maintained his sangfroid demeanour, showing that he was made of a different class and mould and, so did himself and the country proud. The game itself is the better for Murali having played it, and what a loss it would have been if he never took to.

Along with the poor behaviour of the spectators, was the senseless puerile outburst of the Australian cricketer, smacked with racist undertones. To all of them, we would read, that's if they, cared, Cardinal Newman's definition of a gentleman, wherein he says that a "Gentleman is one, who does not inflict pain on another".

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