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| October 13, 2005 | Thursday | Ramzan 8, 1426 |
Spin greats back each other to reach 1,000-wicket mark
SYDNEY, Oct 12: Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan on Wednesday each predicted the other would take 1,000 career Test wickets as they prepared to face off at the spin-friendly Sydney Cricket Ground.
Warne said he was relishing the prospect of the world’s top four slow bowlers playing at the SCG and backed the World XI to reverse its dismal form against Australia in the six-day Test beginning Friday.
The Australian, who has taken a world record 623 wickets, predicted Sri Lanka’s Muralitharan would be the first Test bowler to pass the 1,000-wicket mark.
“Look at him, he’s young, he’s fresh and he gets wickets all the time,” Warne told reporters.
“I don’t think there’s any rivalry there. I’m just happy to hang onto it while I’ve got a little lead on him and I’m sure he’ll catch that up pretty quick.”
The Sri Lankan, on 563 Test wickets, said he doubted Warne would give up his crown easily.
“Shane is being modest, he can take 1,000 wickets because he’s going to play for another five or six years,” he said.
Warne said cricket fans were in for a spectacle when he, Australia team-mate Stuart MacGill and the World XI’s Muralitharan and Daniel Vettori were set loose on the SCG.
“I’ve always said the more spinners the better,” Warne commented.
“I’m a little bit biased — I think one of the great things in the game is seeing a batsman prepared to use his feet against a spin bowler... that and watching a fast bowler trying to knock someone’s head off are the two most exciting things in cricket.”
Warne joins an Australian team determined to continue its winning form that led to a 3-0 whitewash of the World XI in the one-day series in Melbourne.
Warne defended the Super Series concept which has pitted a team of the world’s best cricketers against Australia in one-day matches and the six-day Test starting on Friday.
He said he expected the World XI to bounce back from defeat.
“I expect a very, very good showing from these guys,” he said. “I think it’s going to be a good spectacle, playing the World XI versus the best side in the world is a great concept.”
Warne was particularly wary of a Brian Lara backlash after the West Indian batsman scored only five runs and was skittled for two ducks in the one-day series.
“You don’t keep players like Brian Lara down for long — you don’t make 0, 5, 0 when you’re one of the great players,” he said.
“It a bit ominous for us, I suppose, going into the Test match. He can be pretty destructive on his day so we’re probably not looking forward to that.”
The Australian leg-spinner, who no longer plays One-day Internationals, said the Test arena rewarded consistency in a way not always evident in the short form of the game.
“The best side will always win in a Test match and the best players will always shine through,” he said.
He said he did not expect the Test to extend to six days, saying few Tests reached five days under current aggressive batting strategies.
Stuart MacGill, also a leg-spinner who did not play a single Test in the recent Ashes series after the Australian selectors used Warne as the lone spinner, is almost certain to get his chance this weekend.
The pair are regular partners in Sydney with 94 wickets between them and MacGill is expecting more to come.
“This is where spin bowling is revered more than any other place in Australia,” he said.
Muralitharan and New Zealand’s Daniel Vettori are also relishing the prospect of playing their first Tests on one of the world’s great spinning wickets.
Muralitharan has not played a Test in Australia since 1995 after umpire Darrell Hair called him for throwing. The Sri Lankan vowed never to visit the country again after Australian Prime Minister John Howard called him a chucker but returned earlier this year to play in the tsunami benefit match.
“I haven’t played a Test match for 10 years in Australia, so it’s a big challenge for me to do well here,” he said.
“I only played two previous matches and got 300 runs for three wickets...so I think hopefully my performance will be better than that.”
Vettori has played one-day matches in Sydney but never a Test and said he could not wait for the match to begin.
“It’s pretty exciting, I think it’s been a long time since the New Zealand team played a Test match here,” he said.
“We normally get a couple of Tests down in Hobart, maybe one in Perth, so Sydney’s a bit of a marquee event for us.—Agencies
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