Muttiah Muralitharan

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Muttiah Muralitharan Sri Lanka (SL)
Batting style	Right hand bat
Bowling type	Right arm off break
	Tests	ODIs
Matches	110	293
Runs scored	1117	491
Batting average	11.75	5.77
100s/50s	-/1	-/-
Top score	67	27
Balls bowled	36705	15914
Wickets	674	444
Bowling average	21.73	22.96
5 wickets in innings	57	8
10 wickets in match	19	n/a
Best bowling	9/51	7/30
Catches/stumpings	59/-	113/-
As of April 06, 2007 Source: Cricinfo.com

Muttiah Muralitharan (born April 17, 1972 in Kandy), often referred to simply as Murali, is a Sri Lankan cricketer. He is generally regarded as one of the greatest off-spin bowler in cricket history. However, Muralitharan's career has not been without controversy, with the legality of his bowling action being called into question; he has since been cleared by numerous scientific studies.

Muralitharan became politically active in 2004, becoming an ambassador for the United Nations World Food Program, and joining an anti-poverty campaign. He said he was "lucky to be alive" after narrowly missing the 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake by just 20 minutes [1]. One week later, he was reported to be helping distribute food to victims of the tsunami [2].

He is one of few Tamils to have played for the Sri Lankan cricket team. Muralitharan married an Indian woman, Madhimalar Ramamurthy, in 2005 [3].

Contents 1 Career 2 Controversy of bowling action 3 World records and achievements 4 Test wicket milestones 5 See also 6 Notes and references 7 External links 7.1 Bowling Controversy

[edit] Career

Since his debut in 1992, Muralitharan has taken over 600 Test wickets and over 400 One-Day International wickets, and was the first man to take 1,000 wickets combined in the two main forms of international cricket. Currently his Test average is 21.73, which compares favourably with other contemporary spin bowlers like Australian leg spinner Shane Warne (25.41) and Indian leg spinner Anil Kumble (28.65). In 2002, Wisden carried out a statistical analysis of all Test matches in an effort to rate the greatest cricketers in history, and Muralitharan was ranked as the number one bowler of all time.^[1].^[2][3] However, two years earlier, Muralitharan was not named as one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Century. Recently, Wisden named him the Leading Cricketer in the World in 2006 [4].

Muralitharan's unique bowling action begins with a "flapping wings"^{[citation needed]} run-up, and culminates with an extremely wristy release which had him mistaken for a leg-spinner early in his career by Allan Border [5]. Aside from his off break, he also bowls a fast topspinner which goes straight on. He is also a master of the doosra, the surprise delivery which turns from leg to off with no discernible change of action.

In May 2004, he overtook West Indian Courtney Walsh's record of 519 Test match wickets to become the highest wicket-taker, a record he kept until Shane Warne claimed it in late 2004 after he came back from a one-year ban and an injury forced Muralitharan to miss a considerable number of matches. However, Warne believes that the younger Muralitharan will eventually be the one to finish with the record, saying he believes that Muralitharan will take "1,000 wickets" before he retires [6]. Former record holder Courtney Walsh has also opined that this is possible if Muralitharan retains his hunger for wickets [7]. Muralitharan himself believes there is a possibility that he will reach this milestone. He is the only bowler to have taken five wicket hauls against every other test playing nation. [8] Former Australian captain Steve Waugh called him "the Don Bradman of bowling" [9].

[edit] Controversy of bowling action

Muralitharan's bowling action is controversial amongst the cricket community, with concerns raised as to whether it contravenes the laws of the game by straightening the arm further than is allowed. The controversy came to a head after Australian umpire Darrell Hair called a "no ball" for an illegal action seven times during the Boxing Day Test match in Melbourne, Australia, in 1995. Former Australian batsman, Sir Donald Bradman, was quoted as saying it was the "worst example of umpiring that [he had] witnessed, and against everything the game stands for. Clearly Murali does not throw the ball". [10] [11]

Muralitharan was later no-balled for throwing by Australian umpires Ross Emerson and Tony McQuillan in a One-Day International against the West Indies, in Brisbane, Australia, in the same summer. Following this season, Muralitharan underwent biomechanical tests in Hong Kong and Australia under the supervision of bowling experts, who cleared his action as legal, citing a congenital defect in Muralitharan's arm which makes him incapable of straightening it any further, but giving the appearance of the arm "straightening" [12]. Doubts about Muralitharan's action persisted however, and in 1999 he was once again called for throwing by Ross Emerson in an ODI against England at the Adelaide Oval in Australia. The Sri Lankan team almost abandoned the match, but after instructions from the president of the BCCSL, the game resumed. It later emerged that at the time of this match Emerson was on sick leave for his job due to a stress-related illness, and he was stood down for the rest of the series [13].

Muralitharan took his 500th Test wicket in the second Test against Australia in Kandy on March 16, 2004. At the end of the series his doosra delivery was officially called into question by match referee Chris Broad and Muralitharan was entered into a two-stage remedial process for bowlers with suspect actions under the supervision of the International Cricket Council ('ICC'). The delivery was examined by biomechanical experts who found it to exceed the current tolerance limit, regarding the degree of bend in the arm, of five degrees for slow bowlers.

An extensive ICC study, the results of which were released in November 2004, was conducted to investigate the 'chucking issue'. A panel of former Test players, with the assistance of several biomechanical experts, revealed that 99% of all bowlers bent their arms when bowling.^[4] Only one player in the world (part-time bowler Ramnaresh Sarwan) did not transgress the rules when tested.^[4] Muralitharan's off break and topspinner were deemed within the rules (2 to 5 degree straightening), but the doosra was still an area of concern.^{[citation needed]} The results of the study has led to the ICC issuing a new guideline allowing for extensions or hyperextensions of up to 15 degrees thus deeming Muralitharan's doosra to be legal. [14]

Three vocal critics of Muralitharan's action are former Test cricketers: West Indian Michael Holding, a member of the ICC's Advisory Panel on Illegal Deliveries, Australian Dean Jones and Bishan Bedi, the former India captain. Holding has been quoted^[5] as being in "110% agreement" with Bedi, who likened Murali's action to a "javelin throw" [15]. Following the ICC study, Holding, a member of the panel that conducted the ICC study stated that, "The scientific evidence is overwhelming... When bowlers who to the naked eye look to have pure actions are thoroughly analysed with the sophisticated technology now in place, they are likely to be shown as straightening their arm by 11 and in some cases 12 degrees. Under a strict interpretation of the law, these players are breaking the rules. The game needs to deal with this reality and make its judgment as to how it accommodates this fact." [16]

[edit] World records and achievements

Muttiah Muralitharan holds a number of world records, and several firsts:

• The highest number of international wickets in Tests and ODIs combined (1106 wickets as of 9 January 2007)^[6]
• The most 10-wicket hauls in a match at Test level (19) [17]
• The most 5-wicket hauls in an innings at Test level (57) [18]
• Muralitharan and Jim Laker (England), are the only bowlers to have taken 9 wickets in a Test innings twice.
• Only player to take 50 or more wickets against every Test playing nation. [19]
• Only player to take 10 wickets in a Test match against every Test playing nation. [20]
• Fastest to 350, 400, 450, 500, 550, 600 and 650 Test wickets [21][22][23][24][25][26][27]
• Only player to take 10 wickets in a Test match in four consecutive matches. Murali has achieved this feat twice. [28]
• 7 wickets in an innings against the most countries (5) [29]
• Most Test wickets taken bowled (150) [30] This (b Muralitharan) is the most common dismissal in Test cricket.^[7]
• Most successful bowler/fielder combination - c Mahela Jayawardene b Muttiah Muralitharan (59) [31]

[edit] Test wicket milestones

• 1st: Craig McDermott lbw 9 vs Australia - Match #1 - Test #1195
• 50th: Navjot Sidhu caught Ruwan Kalpage 43 vs India - Match #13 - Test #1247
• 100th: Stephen Fleming bowled 59 vs New Zealand - Match #27 - 1359
• 150th: Guy Whittall caught sub (Mahela Jayawardene) 17 vs Zimbabwe - Match #36 - Test #1395
• 200th: Dominic Cork caught Romesh Kaluwitharana 8 vs England - Match #42 - Test #1423
• 250th: Naved Ashraf lbw 27 vs Pakistan - Match #51 - Test #1489
• 300th: Shaun Pollock caught Tillakaratne Dilshan 11 vs South Africa - Match #58 - Test #1526
• 350th: Mohammad Sharif caught and bowled 19 vs Bangladesh - Match #66 - Test #1561
• 400th: Henry Olonga bowled 0 vs Zimbabwe - Match #72 - Test #1585
• 450th: Daryl Tuffey caught Sanath Jayasuriya 1 vs New Zealand - Match #80 - Test #1644
• 500th: Michael Kasprowicz bowled 0 vs Australia - Match #87 - Test #1688
• 550th: Khaled Mashud caught Thilan Samaraweera 2 vs Bangladesh - Match #94 - Test #1764
• 600th: Khaled Mashud caught Lasith Malinga 6 vs Bangladesh - Match #101 - Test #1786
• 650th: Makhaya Ntini caught Farveez Maharoof 13 vs South Africa - Match #108 - Test #1812

Bowlers who have taken 5 wickets in a Test innings 25 times or more
Muttiah Muralitharan (SL) | Richard Hadlee (NZ) | Anil Kumble (IND) | Shane Warne (AUS) Ian Botham (ENG) | Wasim Akram (PAK) | Glenn McGrath (AUS)

Bowlers who have taken 400 Test wickets
Shane Warne (AUS) | Muttiah Muralitharan (SL) | Glenn McGrath (AUS) | Anil Kumble (IND) | Courtney Walsh (WI) Kapil Dev (IND) | Richard Hadlee (NZ) | Wasim Akram (PAK) | Curtly Ambrose (WI) | Shaun Pollock (SA)

Bowlers who have taken 400 One-day International wickets
Wasim Akram (PAK) | Muttiah Muralitharan (SL) | Waqar Younis (PAK)

	Sri Lanka squad - 2003 Cricket World Cup
1 Jayasuriya | 2 Atapattu | 3 Jayawardene | 4 Sangakkara | 5 De Silva | 6 Arnold | 7 Mubarak | 8 Tillakaratne | 9 Muralitharan | 10 Vaas | 11 Fernando | 12 Gunaratne | 13 Gunawardene | 14 Nissanka | 15 Buddhika | Coach: Whatmore

	Sri Lanka squad - 2007 Cricket World Cup
1 Jayawardene | 2 Atapattu | 3 Jayasuriya | 4 Tharanga | 5 Sangakkara | 6 Dilshan | 7 Arnold | 8 Silva | 9 Maharoof | 10 Vaas | 11 Fernando | 12 Malinga | 13 Kulasekara | 14 Muralitharan | 15 Bandara | Coach: Moody

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes and references

[edit] External links

• Muralitharan.com
• CricInfo Player Profile: Muttiah Muralitharan
• Muttiah Muralitharan International Fan Club
• Murali Tracker

[edit] Bowling Controversy

• Murali's throwing controversy was resolved at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
• ICC study reveals that 99% of bowlers throw
• ICC Illegal Deliveries Process: FAQ