Murali - A fine cricketer produced by St. Anthony’s

by Miran Perera

CRICKET: 2nd of December 2007 will be written in gold letters in the annals of cricket in Sri Lanka as it was the day the greatest cricketing son of Sri Lanka from Kandy broke the world test bowling record. The fortunate batsman to have his name written in the record was Paul Collingwood when he played down the wrong line of a non turning off break. It was not just the people present at Asgiriya who erupted in joy, it was the whole country as it just brought everybody to a grinding halt. Murali had broken the world Test wicket record over taking another great Shane Warne of Australia who most Sri Lankans loved to hate.

Muttiah Muralitharan - the old Antonian great bowler right on top of the world. AFP

17 years before in 1990, in a different perspective as a school cricketer from St. Anthony’s College Kandy, Murali was beginning to rewrite Antonian chronicles. Ganged up with colleagues early Friday morning, the atmosphere was not so pleasant for Trinity students making their way towards either Asgiriya or Katugastota.

It was the heyday of Antonian cricket. The immortal Antonian outfit strangely did not have to tax young Murali too much, for they had in their ranks a host of big names in the likes of Kalpage brothers, Piyal Wijetunga, Sajith Fernando De Alwis brothers, Damin Kolugala etc ....

Murali’s 100th wicket

The big match of 1990 describes best the agony that Trinity cricket underwent at the hands of a marauding Muttiah Muralitharan.

A deadly spell of fastish off spinners by Murali saw the destruction of the opponents by 11:15 a.m. on Saturday. Some old boys were still on their way towards the ground and by the time they got to their venue all they witnessed was a deserted ground for even celebrations had been concluded. Murali captured his 100th wicket for the 1990 season in the Trinity 1st innings. A feat that he repeated the following season with a record haul.

Later playing for the national team, Muralis influence could be ganged by the fact that Sri Lanka has won only a handful of Tests without his bowling efforts and the question that is often asked is what would Sri Lanka’s cricket future be after Murali ? For someone who has achieved such celebrity status his simplicity, modesty and respect for people are qualities that one could admire most. This comes from his very orthodox family background and the education he received at St. Anthony’s College, Kandy, where the old fashioned values have been deeply inculcated in him.

Muralis greatest attribute is his great belief in his ability and the hard work he puts in to perfect it. Because of this, he possesses no fears and is ever ready to pass down advice to anyone and does not hold any thing back even when it comes to secrets of his trade.

Murali tastes defeat

The last fixture of Muralis cricketing career as a schoolboy would have no doubt taught Murali the bitterness of defeat. The limited over encounter of 1991 at his home ground at Katugastota remains to date as the biggest shock in the series contested by the two premier schools in the Hill Capital.

A herculean effort by the late Arjuna Ekanayake more fondly referred to as ‘Jega’, left a scar in Muralis otherwise picture perfect cricketing career as a schoolboy. The sturdily built Trinity Vice-Captain, opened bowling and finished his quota of overs capturing four wickets before taking up his regular duty of keeping wickets. The worst was yet to come as Jega opened batting and hit a match winning half-century adorned by two towering sixes, to the adjoining paddy field. Tronically, both these hits came off Muralis bowling, a feat which many believed impossible at that time. Tempers rose as the Trinitians sailed towards the unlikely victory.

We all know that Murali had the roughest of rides in cricket. Having haunted by Darrel Hair and Ross Emerson down under. Murali was always looked at as somebody controversial and never the purists delight. If it was not his off-break then questioned it was his doosra. On short, he was never allowed to mind his business and carry on doing what he liked most to bowl and get wickets for his country.

It was no doubt that jealousy and personal agendas were the main reason for Murali to be subjected to so many difficult and degrading moments. Murali has been and will be called by many names by many people. The most common and consistent adjective that has been associated with Murali is by far genius. Murali is indeed an off-spinning genius. Actually no spinner in the history of the game has achieved what he has achieved under the most physically and mentally gruelling conditions.

All Antonians proud

All Antonians young and old are proud of this great cricketer from Kandy who has brought so much fame and glory to his old school and to the Motherland Murali’s body and spirit has withstood the demands of 15 years of international cricket. As we all know, Murali has with stood the brickbats thrown by his detractors who have tried and failed, to hound him out of international cricket. His ability to take on both physical and mental strain of international cricket is legendary.

Murali has been a brilliant servant of the game and has brought pride and prestige to the nation and Sri Lanka cricket. The hatred one had towards Murali when considered in the light of an opponent was first lasted by his contemporaries at schoolboy level - a dark wily figure destroying many a renowned batting line up with ease. Trinity, being the traditional rival suffered the most, when consider in this back drop it was no wonder that when Murali stepped into the big league, the matter became an issue internationally. A genius emerging from the subcontinent could have been a bit too hard to stomach for the establishment. There is no choice but to face reality.

A good mixer

Muralis ability to move easily with anyone makes one very comfortable when in his company and that’s why he is very popular with his fellow cricketers and fans. His large heartedness and generosity towards the less fortunate is clearly seen in his charitable exploits. Like his bowling, he has a keen eye for spotting opportunities in the business sphere.

This of course has a lot to do with his upbringing in a business environment. He is not one that would look for short term gains and most of his commercial involvements are with the long haul in mind.

This world renowned spin wizard, one of the greatest alumnus of St.Anthonys College, Katugastota, has experienced a roller-coaster career due in the main to the green eyed monster of jealousy and ignorance regarding the legality of his bowling action. Jealousy is understandable after all as the pithy Sinhala saying tells us; It is the tree laden with fruit that attract the stones and the sticks. Murali has more than endured his share.

Murali, the spin wizard, entered the international cricketing stage with hardly any fanfare. A match-bag of 3 for 141 on debut was not a prelude for a man who in the course of his career rewrote bowling records just as the ‘Don’ did from the other end of the wicket. Murali became the world’s most successful bowler in Test cricket. No wonder the MCC paid him the ultimate tribute by hanging a specially commissioned oil on canvas portrait of the smiling ‘assassin’ of batsmen measuring 6ft by 3 ft at Lord’s alongside the likes of other cricketing giants such as Sir Don Bradman, Sir Vivian Richards and Brain Lara.

Murali is one of the all time greats of cricket to have been produced by St.Anthony’s College Kandy, the great school by the river. Undoubtedly Sri Lanka cricket expects similar cricket players to come from the outstations. Cricketing greats like Muttiah Muralitharan will inspire many schools out of Colombo to take more interest in their young players by nurturing them to give their best in the future to our motherland.

Murali retired from International Test Cricket by taking his 800th wicket against India in the recently concluded series thus creating a world record in bowling.