Ian ConstantineWarne's Record about to fall
July 12th 2007 14:52
Spinning records
With Sri Lanka touring Australia later this year, there is a real chance Shane Warne’s record of 708 test wickets will be taken on these shores. There is a certain amount of irony underlying this if it eventuates. Australia has always been a harsh place for Muralitharan to tour; it is where all the controversy started. The Sri-Lankan’s infamous run-in with Daryl Hair and the constant abuse and scrutiny he receives every time he is in this country. It got to a point where he actually refused to tour down-under ever again.
The off-spinner has never been accepted by our society and is openly loathed, despite passing endless investigations into the legitimacy of his bowling action. He has undergone rigorous testing, scientifically prodded and probed and his action has been approved, time and time again. Why then is he still so controversial? Why then do we not accept his talent, if he was Australian and was under scrutiny, would we the media cover him in the same light? I’m sure the prejudice would be against the authorities; how dare they challenge his bowling action we would cry out.
It is not a question of if, but when Murali breaks the record. He has spearheaded the Sri-Lankan attack for over a decade and will probably end his career with 800 wickets. The main question that arises from this is the quality of opposition. There is no doubting his freakish talent, the man is a magician, just like Warne was, however, unlike Warne; Murali has tallied a lot of his wickets against second rate nations.
To date, he has taken close to 80 test wickets against Bangladesh, a fruitless team that is cannon fodder to established test nations. There status as a test playing side is questionable at best, in 47 test matches the hapless tigers have won only one. Their average 1st innings deficit is an embarrassing 219 runs, proof that they do not belong amongst the big boys.
Test match cricket is a sport that exaggerates the difference between teams; it can expose weaker teams with devastating results. It is one of the toughest examinations in all of sport and thus, upsets are not common. This is more the one-day arena where a radically shortened game evens up the odds. It is in the shorter form of the game where teams like Ireland can overcome impossible odds, as we witnessed in the World Cup.
But as far as test playing nations go, it just won’t do. It is not helpful to anyone having a team like Bangladesh with 1 win from 47 starts. I know there is a responsibility to promote the game and establish it past the commonwealth, but the ICC seems to be bungling the process at every turn. The ‘World’ Cup was supposed to be a showpiece but it was fumbled and dragged on for over a month. By the end, even cricket enthusiasts and tragics were sick and tired of it. Almost fittingly it ended in total farce and controversy; it will be remembered for all the wrong reasons. The ending dampened what should have been a celebration of Australia’s remarkable achievement, winning a 3rd straight World Cup.
Back to the question at hand, as mentioned above Muttiah Muralitharan is a freakish talent, one of the greatest spin bowlers ever to grip the leather. However, if you remove his wickets against Bangladesh the race for the World record mark would be all the more interesting. But at the end of the day records were made to be broken, or in this case; obliterated. Because there is no doubt Murali will become the all-time leading wicket taker and the only question remaining is how much will he beat it by?
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