Murali takes his 520th wicket

[Donut]

Confirming his position as the greatest spin bowler the world has ever known!

[ 05-08-2004, 10:53 AM: Message edited by: Donut ]

[The Fallen One]

u are talking about cricket right? Is murali from Sri Lanka?

[Davros]

Congratulations to Murali on a fantastic effort. He will take this record much much further before he retires. Just a shame that ex pommy nobody Chris Broad had the hide to report the validity of his action a couple of months ago. What a whinger - I though Englishmen were better sportsmen than that, and more prepared to give others a fair go. Seems that in this case at least I was wrong.

[wellard]

Well done "Chuka"


Looks like Shano needs an ashes tour to help him catch up [img]graemlins/heee.gif[/img]

[Donut]

Muralitharan's bowling action first sparked controversy when he was no-balled for throwing by umpire Darrell Hair {AUSSIE!, AUSSIE!, AUSSIE!, OI! OI! OI!) during the Boxing Day Test match against Australia at Melbourne in December 1995.

He was called for throwing later in the tour during a one-day match and again during Sri Lanka's next tour of Australia in 1998 by umpire Ross Emerson {AUSSIE!, AUSSIE!, AUSSIE!, OI! OI! OI!) in Adelaide.

The last incident led to Sri Lankan skipper Arjuna Ranatunga taking his side from the field in protest.


Pot meet kettle!

[Donut]

If one person was unhappy about Murali's achievement, and had no problems saying so, it was Barry Jarman (AUSSIE! AUSSIE! AUSSIE! OI! OI! OI!), the former Australian captain and wicketkeeper. Jarman was the first match official to raise suspicions about Murali's actions. "It makes a joke of the game – it makes me sick talking about it," Jarman was quoted as saying in The Daily Telegraph of Sydney. "Everyone knows he bowls illegally. I saw his photo in the paper the other day and put and old school protractor on his arm. It was bent at 48 degrees [the legal limit for spin bowlers is 10 degrees]. I put it up in the pub to show everyone. He is a lot worse than the University of Western Australia people reckon he is."

Aussie - meet the grapes! Sour ain't they!

[ 05-10-2004, 12:28 PM: Message edited by: Donut ]

[Davros]

LOL - you really seem to have it in for this fellow Donut. Murali is a great and worthy champion and deserves the plaudits that come with such a great feat. Why are you trying to sully his reputation like this .

[Memnoch]

Congrats to Murali, truly a magic player. Don't worry about the HAPLESS Poms Davros, they're just dirty because their aims of drawing the series in SL in December last year weren't met - they did some trademark Boycottesque blocking for most of the 1st and 2nd Tests to scrape away with heroic draws but unfortunately didn't manage it in the Third Test where Murali cleaned them up, leading to a crushing defeat.

And speaking of differing standards of expectation:

Wisden reporting on the OZ win in Galle: Shane Warne's scriptwriter could not have penned his comeback better. Australia, their backs firmly to the wall after the first two days, powered their way back into the opening Test as Warne polished off Sri Lanka's tail in the first innings and Matthew Hayden, the Man of the Match, set Australia on course for a massive lead. Warne then took centerstage on the final, action-packed, day as he ripped through Sri Lanka's batting and rushed to the magical 500-wicket landmark as Australia recorded a famous win. Sri Lanka squandered a 161-run first innings lead as Australia piled up a mountainous 512 for 8. Set an improbable 352-run target, they were thrown into a tailspin this morning as Warne whipped out the cream of their middle order with a magical 13-ball spell that saw Sri Lanka crumple from 41 for 1 to 56 for 4. Sri Lanka never recovered and were bowled out for 154 in just 45.2 overs.

Contrast this with:

Wisden reporting on the Pom draw in Galle: England held on for a fighting draw in what was a tense finish to a closely-fought opening Test against Sri Lanka at Galle. After battling efforts from Mark Butcher, Paul Collingwood and the lower order, the umpires offered England the light with four overs to go and nine wickets down. The weather certainly came to their rescue, but England's draw represented an impressive display of tough concentration and commitment to the cause, especially against Muttiah Muralitharan on a wearing pitch. And as always in these situations, England will feel like champions and take plenty of heart with them to the next Test. Sri Lanka, on the other hand, will be ruing their inability to finish the job off, and their slow batting on the fourth day.

Chalk and cheese. [img]tongue.gif[/img] [img]tongue.gif[/img]

[ 05-11-2004, 05:27 AM: Message edited by: Memnoch ]

[Davros]

We da bomb - whereas the poms just happen to bomb out regularly

[Target]

Beating the Windies in the West Indies...with out loosing a test...now does that sound like bombing out to you????? No didn't think so.