Murali - emblem of unruffled courage
By Champika Fernando
Muttiah Muralitharan entered his name into the great filing cabinet of history as a hero of unruffled courage and perseverance, a victim of injustices and bias, than a villain whose dark deeds tainted his otherwise greatness.
But even then a great ambiguity surrounds his career as some paint him a sinner while others hail him a saint of the modern game.
The beauty of his illustrious career may have been somewhat overshadowed by the controversy surrounding his bowling action, but to put him in the company of those of Marion Jones, a drug cheat, Hansie Cronje and Mohamed Azharuddine, match-fixing cheats, and of course, the Australian spin legend Shane Warne, a doping accused, may be bigotry.
He is no drug cheat like Marion Jones, no criminal like Mike Tyson, no match-fixer like Hansie Cronje and no has he used any unfair means to succeed in the field he has chosen.
Yet he is the centre of attraction whenever he bowls, cameras focused at his arm, commentators watchful of his action, umpires eager to no ball and of course the spectators to utter a word to defame. Such is the psychological pressure put on by men who were eager to see the fall of this man.
Stood firm
A smiling assassin, as one would call him, Muttiah Muralitharan stood firm during the times of trial and tribulations and proved that he is a man of grace than a man of disgrace, a hero than a villain and most importantly a civilized one than those uncivilized individuals who cast stones at him.
Murali faced adversity psychologically more than physically. His detractors more frequently bully him calling him a ‘chucker’ or ‘cheat’ but evidence is in abundance that he isn’t either, as the University of Western Australia through biomechanical evidence, after thorough examination, accepted the legality of his action. But still there are some who question his action.
The controversy though began even before the famous ‘no ball’ incident Down Under when the controversial umpire Darrel Hair no balled Murali seven times in the Boxing Day Test.
Murali received the same treatment at the ODI series that followed and it appeared that the career of Muttaih Muralitharan was under tremendous pressure.
However, the ICC then came to the defense of Muralitharan who concluded after extensive testing that his ‘throwing’ was an illusion caused by a genetic deformity in his arm.
After three years into Sri Lanka’s World Cup triumph in the 1996, Murali again became the subject of discussion during the 1998-99 series in Australia.
Muralitharan’s doosra was termed ‘suspicious’ in an official report by match referee Chris Broad during Australia’s tour of Sri Lanka in 2004.
In November 2004, the International Cricket Council conducted more research into illegal bowling actions and found that many bowlers whose actions were considered legitimate were actually transgressing the rules.
Thus the International Cricket Council in 2004 extended the legal limit of arm-bend for all bowlers to a uniform 15 degree after a detailed study found that all bowlers do have some form of bent-arm.
In February 2006, in an attempt to silence the Australian crowds and their ‘no ball’ chants, Muralitharan took another test at the University of Western Australia, which saw all of his deliveries deemed legal, including the doosra.
The difference
Murali has been the heart and soul of Sri Lanka cricket ever since he made his international debut in 1992 against Australia at home just like Sanath Jayasuriya, the greatest-ever all-rounder Sri Lanka has ever produced to date.
It may not be appropriate to say that he is the backbone of the Sri Lankan side, but he has often been the difference between a good team and a very good team.
Ever since Shane Warne announced his retirement from international cricket, it has been a one horse race for the 35-year-old Kandy born Sri Lankan who was counting his days to reach the record mark. Murali has finally set the world record, a record which will presumably stand for another few decades until we find a genuine bowler of Murali’s grace or Shane Warne’s mastermind steps in.
But the reality is that, none of the leading bowlers at present are even closer to this greatness. So Murali will remain immortal for many decades even after he retires from international cricket.
For now, there’s no sign that the world’s leading spinner calling it a day in the near future and 1000 wickets are a possibility if he plays for another three years or so.
But the ambiguity on Muralitharan and his bowling action will haunt him forever, as long as men of ignorance and arrogance exist.
- Murali Milestones -
Muttiah Muralitharan is now Test cricket’s greatest wicket-taker. We check out the landmarks on his way to overtaking Shane Warne’s record.
1st wicket
Opposition: Australia
Venue and Date: Colombo, August 1992
Victim: Craig McDermott
How out: lbw
50th wicket
Opposition: India
Venue and Date: Ahmedabad, February 1994
Victim: Navjot Sidhu
How out: caught
100th wicket
Opposition: New Zealand
Venue and Date: Hamilton, March 1997
Victim: Stephen Fleming
How out: lbw
150th wicket
Opposition: Zimbabwe
Venue and Date: Colombo, January 1998
Victim: Guy Whittal
How out: caught
200th wicket
Opposition: England
Venue and Date: Kennington, August 1998
Victim: Ben Hollioake
How out: lbw
250th wicket
Opposition: Pakistan
Venue and Date: Karachi, March 2000
Victim: Naved Ashraf
How out: lbw
300th wicket
Opposition: South Africa
Venue and Date: Durban, September 2000
Victim: Shaun Pollock
How out: caught
350th wicket
Opposition: Bangladesh
Venue and Date: Colombo, September 2001
Victim: Mohammad Sharif
How out: caught
400th wicket
Opposition: Zimbabwe
Venue and Date: Galle, January 2002
Victim: Henry Olonga
How out: bowled
450th wicket
Opposition: New Zealand
Venue and Date: Kandy, May 2003
Victim: Daryl Tuffey
How out: caught
500th wicket
Opposition: Australia
Venue and Date: Kandy, March 2004
Victim: Michael Kasprowicz
How out: bowled
550th wicket
Opposition: Bangladesh
Venue and Date: Colombo, September 2005
Victim: Khaled Mashud
How out: caught
600th wicket
Opposition: Bangladesh
Venue and Date: Bogra, March 2006
Victim: Khaled Mashud
How out: caught
650th wicket
Opposition: South Africa
Venue and Date: Colombo, August 2006
Victim: Makhaya Ntini
How out: caught
700th wicket
Opposition: Bangladesh
Venue and Date: Kandy, July 2007
Victim: Syed Rasel
How out: caught
708th wicket
Opposition: England
Venue and Date: Kandy, December 2007
Victim: Ravi Bopara
How out: caught
709th wicket
Opposition: England
Venue and Date: Kandy, December 2007
Victim: Paul Collingwood
How out: bowled
Magic Murali as tricky as ever
By Kumar Sangakkara
The people of Kandy, his hill country home town, love Muttiah Muralitharan as one of their own. I still remember the thousands that spilled onto the street to celebrate his return from the Oval in 1998 where he ran amok with an incredible 16 wickets in the match.
I was 13 when I first met him. I am also from Kandy but played for a rival school - Murali played for St Antony’s College while I was at Trinity College. Although some might have felt I was being treacherous, I used to attend private cricket classes with coach Sunil Fernando and some of the kids from St Antony’s. One day, Fernando pulled Murali into my cement net. I was astonished by the prodigious turn he was getting from such an unresponsive surface. Afterwards, although five years my senior, he was chatty and friendly - a boy that crackled with enthusiasm for the game.
He was already a schoolboy star and I remember my brother’s preparation for the annual derby against St Antony’s. Like this week, all the talk was about Murali and how to combat that unique, prodigious turn. Our curator back then, Alex Lazarum, pledged he’d prepare a pitch that even Murali could not turn the ball on. But, of course, his off-breaks turned outrageously. The players turned on Lazarum at the close. “I made a track that turns so much he would not be able to bowl anyone or get lbws,” he mumbled defensively.
After that Murali was whisked away to Colombo and very quickly into the national team. We bumped into each other occasionally but most of the time I watched him on television. I can still remember my teenage anger and outrage at the way he was treated in Australia during that Boxing Day Test match. For me, and many others, it was nothing less than a national insult. I followed his progress intimately and rejoiced at his performance against England in 1998.
I never dreamed that one day I’d be keeping wicket to him in international cricket. The only advantage you have is the knowledge that the off-break will turn a lot. Nevertheless you can still be taken by surprise and I’ve found it necessary to move earlier than you would normally because you have to move so far to collect the ball.
And, of course, you then have to read him. This took me over a year and that’s despite him helping me all the time. There are two doosras: the first like a top-spinner that kicks on straight and bounces; the second that spins sharply to leg. He bowls variations of both with a scrambled and unscrambled seam. Then there is the newer flipper, his version of the slider that comes from the front of the hand, has no spin and floats on straight - he trapped Kevin Pietersen with that at Edgbaston in 2006.
Comparisons are naturally made between Shane Warne and Murali. But these are very difficult to make. Murali, without the back-up that has helped Warne, is perhaps more direct, attacking the stumps for wickets, while Warne was traditionally more subtle, using different ploys to ensnare batsman. Warne seems to be considered the shrewder operator but I am not all convinced by that. I know that Murali has an instinctive feel for different situations and how to bowl at particular batsmen. Personally, I think Murali has been a significantly more dangerous bowler for all but Warne’s glory years in the mid-1990s.
The great thing, though, about this man is that he is not only one of the most skilful bowlers that has ever graced the game but also the greatest human being I have ever had the privilege of knowing. He is simple, down-to-earth, polite, honest and a great humanitarian. His father may have been the inspiration for this, investing an enormous amount of time improving conditions in Kandy prison, but Murali has gone well beyond the call of duty with his own charity, the Foundation of Goodness.
He is the most loved guy in the dressing room. All the young guys adore him because he makes a special effort to make them feel welcome. He takes them for dinner and he talks cricket with them for hours. And in the dressing room he keeps us in stitches. I have met no greater chatterbox. On one particularly noisy bus journey to Kandy we challenged him to stay silent - he lasted no longer than 10 seconds before kicking back into life. Fortunately, for Sri Lanka, this energy and enthusiasm is still there. Remarkably, despite more than 100 Tests and 700 wickets, he is still racked by nerves in the lead-up to a Test match. He struggles to eat, gets queasy and is hypersensitive. He’ll usually be found in the toilets prior to the start of the game.
The routine is the same today as it was 15 years ago and it shows that he has not gone stale.
Telegraph.co.uk
‘Sir, I’m no cheat’
Murali’s school coach Sunil Fernando talks about his world conquering pupil
By Ranjan Paranavithana
Sunil Fernando was the cricket coach of St. Anthony’s College, Kandy from 1973 to 1996. He is credited for grooming spinners like Muttiah Muralitharan, Ruwan Kalpage and Piyal Wijetunga who went on to represent Sri Lanka. Kumar Sangakkara, although a Trinitian, too had come under Fernando’s wings at his private cricket coaching school.
Following are the excerpts of an interview LAKBIMAnEWS had with Fernando after Muralitharan claimed the world record for the highest number of Test wickets.
Q: Murali has started his cricket as a medium pace bowler. Tell us more about it.
A: When I was the coach of St. Anthony’s I used to watch children play tennis ball cricket at the college ground. Once I saw a small player (Muralitharan) bowling fast. I realised that he had something special and asked him if he liked to play leather ball cricket. He said he would first ask his mother, but he didn’t come back. Sometime later Murali’s mother brought him to my cricket school. He first started as a paceman. When he was playing for St. Anthony’s Under 15 team I thought considering his build he would have a good future as a spinner. So I asked him to bowl off-cutters, which he accepted readily. In his first match, which we played against Maliyadeva, he took five wickets.
Q: There has been a huge hue and cry about his action. Was it same during his school days?
A: Those days nobody questioned his action. Even when he first played for Sri Lanka no one had a problem. He soon developed into a formidable spinner and clamours rose against him. The Australians used them to undermine him.
Q: How did Murali cope with all that?
A: I can still remember how he told me ‘sir, I’m no cheat. I don’t willingly bowl that way’. Even today he phones me if he has any problem about bowling. He has not forgotten his beginnings.
Q: Why don’t you groom another spinner like Murali?
A: We can’t create somebody like him. Like Sanath, he too is a unique cricketer. But we should prepare spinners to take his place in the team.
Q: But we don’t see that many spinners coming out of the system?
A: There are many talented spinners in our country. We should not try to change them. I’m not blaming our coaches. But because of today’s way of competition they have made spinners bowlers who always look to stop the flow of runs. They are in a way restricted to that role only.
When we play matches in Sri Lanka, I think we should field another spinner alongside Murali. If not, another spinner will not get a chance to develop himself.
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