The little wizard versus the Aussies...on and off the field - TONY GREIGS COLUMNS

The little wizard versus the Aussies...on and off the field

Each day it seems that someone wants to make an observation about Muttiah Muralitharan and how the Australian crowds will behave toward him when he tours Australia for the Test series later this year and then again in early 2008 for the One Day Internationals.
Now that he is injured it may just be that the focus will move to how much the Aussies will miss seeing this little genius bowl again if he doesn’t recover in time to make the tour. I do know that every cricket lover in Australia will be bitterly disappointed if he doesn’t make the trip.
It all started with Murali’s county cricket teammate and Aussie all-rounder Andrew Symonds appealing to the Aussie public not to boo Murili when he bowled. Symonds went so far as to suggest that if they did it would be embarrassing.
Murili on the other hand has been quoted as saying it wont bother him in fact he has said it will spur him on to greater things. That I do find a little hard to believe because I have been at grounds and seen this happen and my heart bled for him each time he took his cap at the end of an over. Put simply this was for the worst example of sports related behavior I have every experienced.
Now the Aussie leggie Stuart McGill has decided to have his two bob’s worth. McGill says there’s nothing wrong with Australian crowds continuing to bait Muralitharan when the Sri Lankan vies for Shane Warne’s world record. McGill believes the fired-up local crowds would - and should - be keeping the Sri Lankan honest in Australia. He thinks that sportsmen need to get over their view that spectators owe them anything and he thinks they are a little bit fragile. He says crowd taunting is not personal and he doesn’t think sporting crowds have personal vendettas. That may be so but it is bad behavior none the less. It would be interesting to see how McGill would handle this type of nastiness if he was the victim.
It is good to hear that the Australian captain Ricky Ponting is confident the Australian crowds will be appreciative of Muralitharan’s wizardry. Having said that Ponting is quick to point out that the Aussie team will be doing everything they can to see to it that Murili does not leave Australia with Shane Warne’s world record. Apparently one of the teams goals for the international season is a commitment to deprive Murali of the nine wickets he needs from two Tests to become the most successful bowler in the world. Ponting said that this goal was not borne out of resentment of the charismatic Sri Lankan off-spinner. Instead, he believes that if Australia can combat Murali, they will go a long way towards winning the series. Muralitharan has played only three Tests in Australia, for eight wickets at 63 a piece compared with a career haul of 700 wickets at 21 apiece so he will be keen to put the record straight.

An old grump

My old mate Stanley Jayasinghe has taken a bit of a cheap shot at me in a local newspaper for my involvement in the 20/20 Indian Cricket League. Stanley hates cricket’s shortened format so I thought I had better try and explain to him my position and why I actually love any form of cricket.
I have been to plenty of Tests in Sri Lanka and witnessed empty grounds. I have also seen packed houses for limited over games. Cricket is not about a choice between one form of the game or another. It’s about a formula that keeps the game we love going. Limited over games are the equivalent of fast food and those of us who have young children put up with it in the hope that they will grow up to enjoy fine dining. Come on Stanley stop being such an old grump and get with it.

TONY GREIG COLUMN

Two of the best

Just recently there has been speculation in the Australian newspapers about how long the Aussie wicket keeper batsman Adam Gilchrist will continue playing. The general consensus of opinion is that he will give away One Day Internationals and only play Test cricket for a while. This got me thinking about Sanath Jayasuriya and what he might have in mind for his future. What an incredible servant of Sri Lankan cricket he has been. Like Gilchrist he has played a brand of cricket that has captivated all of us. Commentators like everyone else love a snack or coffee, some even have a drink at some stage during a days play. We all need to visit the toilet from time to time but never when Gilchrist or Jayasuriya is batting.

Impeccable behaviour



These two brilliant attacking batsmen have delighted crowds all over the world with their crisp stroke play and it’s sad to think that someday relatively soon they will move on.
Apart from their terrific batting they have both also played crucial roles in the field — Gilchrist with the gloves and Jayasuriya with the ball. Put simply they are both splendid all-rounders.
What I also love about these two fantastic players is the impeccable way they have behaved. They are two of the nicest guys playing the game and set the sort of example we want sportsmen to set for our children.

Walker

Gilchrist has actually gone one step further. The umpires are being made fools of by the modern technology being used to cover the game for television. This is happening despite the fact that the umpires these days are every bit as good and almost certainly better that their predecessors. You would have thought that players would have been eager to help the umpires, who like the players, are also trying their level best to do a good job. After all, these days there is plenty of talk about the importance of the spirit of cricket. Gilchrist is different because unlike the rest of the Australian team, and for that matter most of the top players in the world, he is a walker. In other words if he thinks he is out he doesn’t hang around waiting for the umpire to tell him so - he just walks. Imagine how much easier it would be to umpire if there were more Gilchrists around.
For me, it’s been an absolute pleasure, to sit in the commentary boxes around the world, watching these two great players play the game. If I were asked to pick my best ever one day team the names of Adam Gilchrist and Sanath Jayasuriya would be pencilled in first.

TONY GREIG COLUMN

Two of the best

Just recently there has been speculation in the Australian newspapers about how long the Aussie wicket keeper batsman Adam Gilchrist will continue playing. The general consensus of opinion is that he will give away One Day Internationals and only play Test cricket for a while. This got me thinking about Sanath Jayasuriya and what he might have in mind for his future. What an incredible servant of Sri Lankan cricket he has been. Like Gilchrist he has played a brand of cricket that has captivated all of us. Commentators like everyone else love a snack or coffee, some even have a drink at some stage during a days play. We all need to visit the toilet from time to time but never when Gilchrist or Jayasuriya is batting.

Impeccable behaviour



These two brilliant attacking batsmen have delighted crowds all over the world with their crisp stroke play and it’s sad to think that someday relatively soon they will move on.
Apart from their terrific batting they have both also played crucial roles in the field — Gilchrist with the gloves and Jayasuriya with the ball. Put simply they are both splendid all-rounders.
What I also love about these two fantastic players is the impeccable way they have behaved. They are two of the nicest guys playing the game and set the sort of example we want sportsmen to set for our children.

Walker

Gilchrist has actually gone one step further. The umpires are being made fools of by the modern technology being used to cover the game for television. This is happening despite the fact that the umpires these days are every bit as good and almost certainly better that their predecessors. You would have thought that players would have been eager to help the umpires, who like the players, are also trying their level best to do a good job. After all, these days there is plenty of talk about the importance of the spirit of cricket. Gilchrist is different because unlike the rest of the Australian team, and for that matter most of the top players in the world, he is a walker. In other words if he thinks he is out he doesn’t hang around waiting for the umpire to tell him so - he just walks. Imagine how much easier it would be to umpire if there were more Gilchrists around.
For me, it’s been an absolute pleasure, to sit in the commentary boxes around the world, watching these two great players play the game. If I were asked to pick my best ever one day team the names of Adam Gilchrist and Sanath Jayasuriya would be pencilled in first.