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| Sunday, 18 April 2004 |
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'Murali' set to follow Lara to a new high despite 'doosra' controversy by SRIAN OBEYESEKERE Brian Lara's singularly unique feat of reclaiming his world record from Mathew Hayden with an unparallel unbeaten 400, and a titanic race between Sri Lankan Muttiah Muralitharan and Australian Shane Warne to become the highest wicket taker on earth, has already set the year 2004 in motion as far as records go. If the West Indian smashed his way to a new orbit in cricket history, the Muralitharan-Warne race to get past West Indian Courtney Walsh's world record of 519 Test wickets is set to dress the game with the fervour that only such competition can compel. Lara of course, at the moment is the toast of the cricket world having savaged the England bowlers to reach a new sky high going past Hayden's 380 making St. John's, Antigua his happy hunting grounds in the fourth Test against England. It brought him back from a limbo of what were but a few summers from the glow snatched by Hayden in 2003 before which his 375 eclipsed compatriot Sir Garfield Sobers longtime record of 365 in 1993-'94 also against England at the same venue. While the same venue and the same country is a record by itself, incidentally Lara broke both Sobers' and Hayden's records captaining his country which in so much are unmatched. As much as is his record of 501 as the highest individual score in a first class match for Warwickshire against Durham at Birmingham. Above all, breaking the world Test record twice, and holding the first class record of quintuple figures, are feats which set the West Indian in a very single elite fold not even achieved by the legendary late Sir Donald Bradman hailed by the world to date as the greatest batsman of all time. New impetus But as significant is the typically characteristic Lara grain for run making that his latest feat last week has underscored in setting the left hander by itself in a class of his own. It is a golden 400 milestone reached with a swept single off Gareth Batty before which he rode Hayden's record with a majestic six followed by a boundary on the fourth day into which were tucked 42 fours and 4 sixes. Certainly a radiation as far as batting goes at that level which has radiated a new impetus to run making in Test cricket. If Lara's 400-run feat looks a dizzy feat to reach for the record breakers, in its oppositte art in the world of bowling, the Walsh record set some 4 years ago is but a dime of wickets away from going to either Shane Warne or Muttiah Muralitharan in what would be a jet set year of an everest of records. Remarkable Warne Interestingly, when his career looked as bleak as ever, Warne made a remarkable come back from a 1-year long hibernation having served a drugs related suspension to claim an astonishing 20 odd wickets in Australia's 3-nil whitewash of Sri Lanka on the way to the magical 500-mark which has left him but a handful of wickets away from the world record. Still more interestingly, Muralitharan, who started the series on 386 wickets and reached the mountainous 500 mark but a few days after Warne, looks the most likely to win the race. The away 2-off Test series against Zimbabwe starting next week in mid-April will see Muralitharan rearing to go despite the latest damper to his career where the legitimacy of his bowling action relating to his new delivery the 'doosra' has run into question. While this latest controversy has evidently cast some doubt as to Muralitharan's 'doosra' which is a delivery that goes either way from left handed batsmen, the good news for Muralitharan and the Sri Lankan cricketing public is that the record breaker in waiting has got the 'all clear' for the Zimbabwe tour which saw Muralitharan among a 16-member Lankan squad which jetted it across to the African continent last Friday. This will be ahead of Shane Warne who will have to wait till after the Lankan tour when Australia tours Zimbabwe in late May. But the sullying side of Muralitharan's latest controversy is the fact that the match referee, Chris Broad saw it fit to report the Lankan bowler to the ICC without any of the umpires who stood in the last home series reporting the bowler for a suspect action. Still worse is the possibility of bias creeping in which Sri Lankans entertain. This is in the face of the fact that Chris Broad had gone on record openly criticising Muralitharan during a radio commentary when England toured Sri Lanka earlier this year. And the other allegation against Broad, a former England opening batsman is that he boozed with several Australian cricketers undermining his official capacity as match referee which is in violation of the ICC code of conduct. Still bad, the Broad related Muralitharan controversy has also raised questions of racism invading the game where many keep questioning whether the slave concept of the big white brother dominating his small black brother still rules the roost. Interestingly, it comes at a juncture where the cricket world does still hear of aparthied raising its head time and again to a point of incidents of white players casting remarks against black players on the cricket field. In the wake of all this, the Lankan cricketing public must wonder as to why the local authorities did not want to disclose the report by bio mechanic experts Bruce Elliot and Darryl Foster from University in Western Australia. In the ups and downs of the game where the governing arm of the ICC is duty bound by member countries to ensure equality for all, fans from cricket frenzied Sri Lanka will no doubt be cheering for their hero Muralitharan, who is affectionately known as 'Murali' to follow the great feats of his black brother Brian Lara into the record books when he is given the ball against Zimbabwe where cricket is said to have been reduced by an aparthied related row between players and the administration. And as the focus reverts to Warne and Muralitharan, little separates the two as far as class and achievements go. Warne in his comeback showed that he could still bamboozle batsmen with his customary hop like trot to the wicket accentuated by that gangling six footed frame and locks of golden hair when in full flight. An artist with the ball, who after the series, claimed he was even better than he ever was, unbeatable deliveries of which the cricketing world still marvel at like the one that bowled Mike Gatting round his legs. Murali ahead But in terms of age and figures Muralitharan is already past Warne. Warne is reportedly looking at 600 wickets which be any standards will be a new high. But of course, Muralitharan seems to have the whole cake to gobble as conceded by Warne himself in an interview to AFP in London that, 'Murali is only 31 and has loads of time to get to 1,000.' For the record, Warne reached 500 wickets from 110 matches as against Muralitharan's comparatively lesser number of only 89 outings. In effect, it will be the world record that Muralitharan will be looking to bowl at which beckons him into a jet set age of becoming the greatest bowler of all time. A hall of fame that the bowler and Sri Lankan cricket would bask in for the sweat and toil it has taken this island nation to be counted from small beginnings. |
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