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| January 13, 2003 | Monday | Ziqa'ad 9, 1423 |
Muralitharan faces umpire Hair again
SYDNEY, Jan 12: Sri Lankan cricket captain Sanath Jayasuriya on Sunday downplayed the appointment of Australian umpire Darrell Hair to officiate the tri-nations series clash between Sri Lanka and England.
Monday’s match will be the first time Hair and controversial spin bowler Muttiah Muralitharan have met this summer.
Hair, who no-balled Muralitharan for throwing during the Boxing Day Test at the MCG in 1995-96, has been confirmed as Zimbabwean Russell Tiffin’s umpiring partner for the encounter.
Jayasuriya shrugged off the appointment, saying Muralitharan was more concerned about returning to his best in time for the World Cup than Hair’s appearance in the middle.
“No problem, it’s no problem,” Jayasuriya insisted.
Jayasuriya also claimed Muralitharan was unconcerned about sections of the crowd yelling “no ball” when the 30-year-old off-spinner bowled against Australia in Sydney on Thursday, in his first game after a hernia operation.
“That doesn’t bother him any more,” Jayasuriya said of the taunts.
“We don’t bother about whatever the crowd says because we know he has proved himself as the number one bowler in the world.
“That is what matters to us. He just wants to enjoy his cricket. He’ll always give the Sri Lanka team 100 per cent all the time.
“That is all he wants to do.”
Muralitharan has 437 wickets from only 78 Tests, and 299 one-day wickets from 201 appearances.
He is third and fourth on the all-time Test and one-day bowling lists respectively and he was recently voted Wisden’s best Test bowler of all time.
But his remarkable rise has been accompanied by accusations of throwing.
The ICC has cleared him, but opinion remains divided about the legality of his action, especially his top-spinner.
There is a school of thought that umpires don’t report him any more because they fear they will lose their careers if they do.
Hair was the first to no-ball Muralitharan. Later in the 1995-96 season, he was called by Tony McQuillan and Ross Emerson in a one-dayer against West Indies in Brisbane.
His most recent visit to Australia in 1998-99 also turned ugly when Emerson called him at Adelaide Oval.
As a result, there were fears Muralitharan would not tour Australia again, but he is trying desperately to get ready for the World Cup one-day contests starting next month in South Africa and Zimbabawe.
“He’s just started and needs more time bowling in the nets and in matches,” said Jayasuriya.
“He bowled pretty well the other night (against Australia) and he will get more and more useful in time.
“When he comes in it gives a lot of confidence to the boys, he means as much to us as Shane Warne does to Australia.”
Jayasuriya said Sri Lanka’s dramatic form reversal, resulting in a 79-run win over world champion Australia, was explained by a return to unabashedly attacking cricket.
“What we discussed was that we need to play our natural game, especially myself,” said Jayasuriya, who belted 12 fours and four sixes in Sri Lanka’s total of 343 for five wickets.
A win over England would keep Sri Lanka in the hunt to become the first side to reach the tri-series finals after losing their first three matches.
“What we needed was one win to change the whole thing and we did that the other night,” said Jayasuriya.
“That’s a big thing if you win against Australia. It gives you a lot of confidence because that’s the best team.”—AFP
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