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| Wednesday, 16 June 2004 |
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Murali chucks Australia by Sa'adi Thawfeeq So it is finally official. Muttiah Muralitharan will not tour Australia with the Sri Lanka cricket team for the back-to-back Tests in Darwin and Cairns next month. The highest wicket-taker in the world handed over a letter to Sri Lanka Cricket president Mohan de Silva yesterday morning stating that he would be unavailable for the tour to Australia for personal reasons. There was enough speculation whether Muralitharan would boycott the tour after Australian Prime Minister John Howard branded him a 'chucker' soon after he had broken West Indian Courtney Walsh's world Test record of 519 wickets last month. Apart from Howard's brash statement, Muralitharan's unusual bowling action has also been criticized by past Test players mainly Australians. It was in Australia that he was twice called for throwing by Australian umpires on tours there in 1995-96 and 1998-99 leading to lasting resentment between the two countries. Then in the recently concluded series against Australia in March, ICC match referee Chris Broad reported Muralitharan's new delivery the 'doosra' which has since been put on hold by the ICC until such time as proper research is done on spinners. In a press statement issued ten days ago, Muralitharan stated: "Even the Prime Minister of Australia has called me a chucker and then in the next sentence says I will be welcomed to tour his country!" "The period since this report has been the most traumatic time for me. I have been defamed, pilloried and severely criticized by the world's cricket media." The 32-year-old spin wizard became the world's leading wicket-taker in Test cricket when he took 14 wickets in the two Test series in Zimbabwe last month to pass Walsh's record. His present tally of 527 wickets from 90 Tests sees him 10 wickets ahead of his nearest rival Australia leg-spinner Shane Warne who has 517 wickets from 110 Tests. Since Broad's report Muralitharan has been asked not to bowl the 'doosra' by SLC and he has refrained from doing so. He has at the same time undergone extensive tests on his new delivery at the University of Western Australia in Perth. The report arising from the tests states in favour of Muralitharan that he be allowed to bowl the doosra because he does not derive an unfair advantage over batsmen or other bowlers although he exceeds the present ICC levels of tolerance for spinners which is five degrees. In his statement to the press Muralitharan has admitted that he operates within the laws of the game and it is wrong for people to label him a 'chucker' based solely on what they see with the naked eye. Muralitharan has been Sri Lanka's main strike bowler since making his Test debut in 1992. Such is his devastation of the opposition that the majority of Sri Lanka's victories in both Tests and one-day internationals in the past ten years have come due to his unique bowling. He has been a one-man demolition squad for his country that in that period without him Sri Lanka has never won a Test match. Muralitharan is expected to return to the national side for the Asia Cup tournament starting in the middle of next month. His team mates and SLC have stated that they would back whatever decision he takes with regard to the Australian tour. Sri Lanka captain Marvan Atapattu said: "Murali's absence will be one heck of a challenge for us. It will be a big struggle trying to contain the strong Australian batting line up without him." "Right along it has been (Chaminda) Vaas and Murali who have been doing the bulk of the bowling and getting the bulk of the wickets for us. But at the same time it will also give an opportunity for somebody else to come and perform and show what they are capable of," said Atapattu who lead a 15-member team to Australia on the short tour starting next week. Muralitharan's place in the team will be fought out between spinners Upul Chandana and Rangana Herath. |
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