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| Saturday, 29 May 2004 |
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A yardstick for peace? Sa'adi Thawfeeq If the thousands who thronged the streets from Katunayake to Colombo to welcome Muttiah Muralitharan, the new world record holder for Test wickets is any indication then a total outsider will find it hard to believe that this country had been ravaged by an ethnic war for the past two decades or so. Regardless of cast, creed, religion and society thousands lined up to give a hero's welcome to Muralitharan. If a Sinhala Buddhist nation can give a minority Tamil such a salutation then why are we fighting a war? What that welcome signified was the unity that exists within the nation to welcome a hero. The nation's people were ready to accept a world champion whether he was a Buddhist, Tamil, Muslim or Christian with open arms. Then again in Kandy his hometown, Muralitharan received the same warm and friendly response from everyone. With peace negotiations set to resume once again between the Government and the Tamil Tigers, the camaraderie that existed among the people in welcoming Muralitharan's triumphant return home should be used as a benchmark. What better example than that to find a lasting solution to bring peace to the country. Australia does not deserve Murali If there is one thing that needs to be told straight off the cuff it is that Australia does not deserve to see the world record holder Muralitharan in action on any of their cricket grounds. For all the agony and pain of mind they have subjected him to since 1995-96 they don't deserve him. They have hounded him like a dog ever since that tour and not given him any peace of mind. Why the sudden interests to woo him back to Australia when the country's Prime Minister is also accusing him as a 'chucker'? The champion spinner has been offended deeply by these remarks and is contemplating skipping the Australian tour. Had someone else made those remarks it wouldn't have gone as deep as it has with Muralitharan. But for a comment to be made by a responsible figure as the head of a state has made Muralitharan feel unwelcome by that country. If Muralitharan decides not to tour Australia he has all the reasons for it and the entire nation will back him. Sri Lanka Cricket and the country's captain Marvan Atapattu have said that they would support whatever decision Muralitharan takes with regard to the tour next month. Australia is one nation that has given Muralitharan hell during his international career. On two tours to that country in 1995-96 and 1998-99 he has been subjected to all kinds of criticism and remarks that an ordinary mortal would have by now thrown in the towel. What such sarcasm has done to Muralitharan is that it has made him more determined to succeed at the highest level. In some way Australia may have contributed to him being at the pinnacle of his bowling achievements today. Muralitharan is not going to lose much by not going to Australia for the two Tests. He would rather stay at home and have some peace of mind. What guarantee has he that he will be left alone to ply his trade when he arrives in Australia? He has never been the same bowler in Australia and his past record to that country shows that in two Tests his returns have been just three wickets at a cost of 116 runs apiece. Knowing Muralitharan he will want to be in the thick of action and determined to help his country come what may. But on this occasion wiser counsel should prevail and Muralitharan should seriously review his career and future. He has already been reported for a suspect bowling action on his new delivery the 'doosra', which is currently under review and banned by the International Cricket Council (ICC). In Australia he is going to come face to face once again with his main adversary Chris Broad who has been assigned by the ICC to be match referee for the series. It was Broad who reported Muralitharan to the ICC on his new delivery at the end of the Australian series this year. If Broad could have been 'influenced' to report Muralitharan in a home series, what more damage can't he do to him in Australia? To make sure Muralitharan gets banned from the game for 12 months he could send in a second report. Then what? It will favour the Australians nicely because that would enable Shane Warne to make up for lost time when he was serving a 12-month ban for taking a banned drug to go past Muralitharan in the race for the highest Test wicket-taker. Presently Muralitharan holds a 10-wicket advantage over Warne. Muralitharan has 527 wickets to Warne's 517. The Australian leg-spinner missed out on the opportunity of adding to his tally when Cricket Australia and the Zimbabwe Cricket Union cancelled the two Tests scheduled for this month. There is a lot-taking place to woo Muralitharan into a false sense of security to tour Australia. A lot of the vibes have been coming from Down Under. Warne has gone on record saying that Muralitharan is a 'bit oversensitive about the whole thing' and that anyone who couldn't cope with criticism should not be playing cricket. Then a regional Queensland paper the 'Cairns Post' has pleaded with Muralitharan to tour Australia in a front-page splash. They have also published a coupon urging readers to send messages of support to Muralitharan. Why Australia want Muralitharan so dearly is to boost their ticket sales with a head-to-head clash between the two foremost spinners in world cricket today - Muralitharan and Warne. If Muralitharan skips the tour, it will be a disaster to the cities' economy. In Australian parliament Already the effects of a Muralitharan boycott have had its effects in the Australian parliament. Here are extracts from the debate of the Ninth Assembly held on May 18. On a question raised by Mr Kiely to the Treasurer of the likely impact of Budget 2004 on the Territory's economic development, the answer contained the following: "The Territory's great lifestyle gets even better. We are supporting more major events than ever before. I talked this morning of the cricket to the BassInTheGrass. I wish Prime Minister Howard would get his head out of it, Madam Speaker. Now we have Muralitheran, the greatest wicket taker in the history of the game, saying he will not come because the Prime Minister has the insensitivity to call him a chucker, and he won't come. He is likely to deny Territorians the spectacle of witnessing the greatest ever bowler in the history of the game turning the ball out at Marrara. The Member for Nelson agrees. He knows that the Prime Minister should have shut his mouth when he doesn't know what he is talking about. "I spoke with the Sri Lankan Ambassador at a lunch here with the Foreign Minister a week and a bit ago and I said: 'Will you please ask Mr Muralitheran to come to Australia for this next test series because we in Darwin are looking forward to seeing the greatest bowler on our home turf' and he said: 'I speak to Murali on a regular basis and I will pass that on'. Now, that was prior to this turkey of a Prime Minister getting out there and calling him a chucker. I hope that damage can be undone, but that is what we are bringing to Darwin: test cricket in the form of Sri Lanka and the world's greatest ever wicket taker." |
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