Warne’s coach Jenner goes for Murali again

Asks ICC to test him in a Test match:

Elmo RODRIGOPULLE Reporting

Australia it seems would not want to let Muttiah Muralitheran play cricket and bowl the way his creator wanted him to.

On every tour, starting from that Boxing Day Test in 1995, the Aussies have been haunting and hunting him, doing their utmost to hound him out of the game.

‘With Muralitheran near to breaking Shane Warne’s Test bowling record, the cry is at its most deafening with Terry Jenner, Warne’s bowling coach calling on the International Cricket Council to scrutinize Muraliheran and force him to prove his action in a Test match.

The bowler needs another six wickets to equal and one more to get ahead of Warne’s record. Jenner opines that Muralitheran is risked being branded a chucker for life unless the International Cricket Council tested him in cricket’s most demanding cauldron.

To Murlitheran’s credit it must be said that every time he had been asked to undergo tests, by the ICC he had readily agreed through a series of exhaustive biochemical tests.

But Jenner, the former Australian leg spinning all rounder reckons that if the bowler’s impending status as Test cricket’s greatest wicket taker means the ICC is duty bound to confirm his legitimacy under playing conditions.

Continuing Jenner has said: If Muralitheran is going to be the greatest wicket taker of all time, if he’s going to take the record off Shane who is 100 per cent legitimate, then test him in the field of play. “I’ m sure with the technology available today, that could happen.

And if the ICC test him in a Test match situation, and he comes up below the 15-degree figure (the permitted flexion range for spin bowlers), then we can all sit back and rejoice in what we watch.

“I’m not going to call him a chucker. He’s here, and I take my hat off to him because after calls for him not to tour here, I think it’s terrific that he has.

Jenner also asks why the ICC can’t do something during a match situation to end the speculation forever. Jenner says he doesn’t care if he is tested in Brisbane or in Colombo, but he must be tested under pressure, where Jenner says he is most likely to reach his ultimate point of flexion.

“That is the only way we are ever going to decide if Muralitheran is legitimate” reckons the former Aussie leg spinner.

He also states that one can stage a bowling action in a laboratory.

Jenner concludes by saying “I’m not saying he’s endeavouring to cheat. All I’m saying is the environment, in which he has been tested, is not natural.

Being Warne’s coach, Terry Jenner obviously must be frustrated that his pupil’s record is going to be broken and he can be excused for the outburst.

What is interesting to watch is whether the ICC will take Jenner”s request seriously and test Muralitheran during a Test match.

THE GABBA, Brisbane, Sunday