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| Sunday, 15 February 2004 |
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Murali Marches on by QUINTUS DE ZYLVA - Trustee Sri Lanka Cricket Foundation of Victoria
Murali's relentless pursuit to become the all time greatest Test bowler moved a step closer in the year 2003. Whilst Shane Warne was kicking his heels on the side-lines serving his 12 month suspension - Murali took 26 wickets against England in the three-Test series in December in Sri Lanka to now be positioned just six scalps behind Shane Warne and 34 behind the all time greatest Test wicket taker Courtney Walsh of the West Indies. The Test wicket statistics at the end of 2003 are Courtney Walsh 519, Shane Warne 491, Murali 485. Shane Warne and Murali next meet in Test matches in Sri Lanka commencing with the first Test in Galle on Monday 8th March 2004. This surely will attract hordes of cricket lovers from all over the world to see these spin magicians weave their mesmerising turn on wickets that are often called spin-friendly in Sri Lanka. Shane Warne will have just finished his "term" and from his widely publicised utterances - is now in training for this clash of two of the world's greatest spin bowlers. Murali statistically leaves Shane Warne for 'dead' in the race to be the greatest Test bowler of all time - he has reached this milestone of 485 Test wickets in just 85 Test matches whilst Shane Warne has played in 107 Test matches to reach his 491 Test wickets. Murali's supremacy becomes even more glaring when we realise that he has had 10 wicket hauls 12 times compared to Shane Warne who has taken 10 wickets just 6 times. And Murali has taken 5 wickets 39 times compared to Shane Warne 23 times. All this leads to a Test wicket average of 22.95 for Murali compared to Warne's average of 25.71. As regards injuries during their cricket careers - both Warne and Murali have had their fair share. Shane Warne's attempt to save a single off his own bowling in a one-day match resulted in his dislocated shoulder and the horror pictures of his exit on a stretcher. Murali's shoulder was hurt in Sharjah and he was then flown out to Melbourne for surgery. It is also of interest to note that both Murali and Shane Warne have sought the expertise of the same Specialist Melbourne Orthopaedic Group of which Dr. David Young has provided Murali and a host of other Sri Lankan cricketers with his expert care. Interestingly, David Young is an invited guest of Sri Lanka Cricket for the forthcoming Aussie tour. David Young also attended the ICC Champions Trophy Cricket Tournament in September 2002 in Colombo and was known to treat Ricky Ponting and Murali on the same day at the Taj in Colombo! So much for the similarities between these two spin twins. Shane Warne's action has never been queried in any part of the world whilst Murali has had to carry the question of the legitimacy of his action for many a year. In spite of scientific proof from Perth, Melbourne and Hong Kong (the picture shows Murali's fixed flexion deformity demonstrated by Dr. Phillip Hardcastle in Perth) with slow motion replays proving the legitimacy of his action. Murali has had this question mark hanging over his delivery stride ever since Hair stepped on to the MCG turf and stepped out of line in that now famous Boxing Day match. Hair of course has since changed his mind on the legitimacy of Murali's action and did not call him or report him during matches last year - although his published book was so adamant on the stand he took. Nasser Hussain added fuel to the fire in his reported words of abuse when Murali came out to bat in the second Test at Asgiriya. He was cautioned by Clive Lloyd, the match referee. England's barmy Army honoured Murali with a song dedicated solely to him: "Throw, throw, throw the ball gently down the seam - Murali, Murali, Murali, Murali chucks it like a dream"! Derek Pringle and Mike Atherton joined the chorus in Sri Lanka recently when they queried the legitimacy of his "weapon of mass destruction" - the DOOSRA! The "minnows" of Aussie cricket like the Egar's, Emerson's and Craddock's have belittled Murali's achievements - particularly when he bowls on Australian soil. He will do just that in the first Test at Darwin commencing 1st July this year and the second Test at Cairns starting on Friday 9th July. But that seems a long way off - the focus of attention is the clash of these all time spinning greats - Shane Warne and Murali - in Sri Lanka in March this year. The Australian captain Ricky Ponting is on record as saying that Murali is the world's best bowler and Sir Donald Bradman put the icing on the cake when he said of Murali - "Clearly Murali does not throw the ball. No effort in that direction is made or implied by him. His every effort is to direct the ball into the batsman. Murali wants to bamboozle, to trick through flight and change of pace. HIS IS THE STUFF OF OUR GREATEST SLOW BOWLERS". WISDEN in their wisdom named Sir Donald Bradman as the greatest batsman of all time and our MURALI as the greatest bowler of all time. Long may this healthy rivalry between two of the great cricket playing nations remain. March 2004 will go down as the memorable clash of spinning giants and perhaps the year when one of the most cherished cricketing Test wicket records was broken. |
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