Murali Options

[wezwaz]

Could Sri Lanka please stop playing Bangladesh!!! You'd think they do it just to pump up Murali's record. It's getting to the ridiculous. The bloke has 85 wickets against them at an average of about 11. Add his wickets against Zimbabwe and he totals 170+ at less than 15. That's 23% of his wickets against club cricketers!

Look at his record against Australia: 59 in 13 tests at 36. And he's not a lot better against India, averaging 30.

I think Bangladesh and Zimbabwe still need to be encouraged to play better cricket, but Murali continues to gorge himself on these easy pickings. It's an insult to better bowlers with career figures that pale against Murali's. Honestly, he's not that good and will always have controversy hanging over his head.

To this day I still feel it's impossible to turn an offspinner the other way, unless you are doing something strange with your arm. Can anyone explain how to make a legspinner out of an offspinner, logically?

[Stirer]

Oh dear Wezwaz, we have had this debate so often in the past. I produced some stats that compared Shane Warne with Murali, excluding the "minnows" from the others, and Murali shaded Warne on that count, and on the count of playing against the minnows only - both in averages and in strike rate. The only open debate at the time was how many wickets each bowler had.

The fact remains that you can't pick and choose which stats you want to keep and which you want to waiver. As in any other sport, you play against some geniuses and against some dum-dums. They all count.

About the doosra. It is not Murali's invention. According to Bob Woolmer's "Art and Science of Cricket", the originator of the Doosra was Saqlain Mushtaq (and others debate that it was the West Indian Sonny Ramadhin). The name means "the second one", or "the other one" in Urdu.

Also, Murali was tested and cleared in Australia by Australian scientists. It is well documented that he has freakish and almost unique ultra-supple movement in his wrist and fingers that enables him to do things with a cricket ball that no other player can emulate. My own daughter can partly emulate this: she can lay her thumb back flat against her forearm, and hold her wrist at a most unnatural angle. Her elbow also bends quite a bit "the other way". If only she had been a cricketer !!!!

Another thing about Murali is his uncanny accuracy. If you wait for him to bowl a bad ball, you've got a long wait a-coming. Just get over it and admire a genius at work. He's going to be around for quite a time still, and will probably take 1000 test wickets. I'm waiting for him to bowl in tandem with that other SL "freak" - Mendis.

[Shane]

Mushtaq it twas indeed. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/dry.gif)

[wezwaz]

Safe to say he never ever troubled Australian batsmen, but simply mesmerized the rest. I watched him a lot and he was innocuous against Australia.

Of course, even the best bowlers have their bad patches, or countries against who they didn't perform as well as the rest of their record suggests. So, Murali has his place and you can say he is a unique bowler.

Testing under controlled conditions isn't the way to go. It should be done via replays under match conditions. Did they test his doosra, i.e. made sure he spun it the other way? We know they actually varied the law re arm straightening because of his bowling. Does that mean anything?

[Stirer]

Testing under controlled conditions isn't the way to go. It should be done via replays under match conditions. Did they test his doosra, i.e. made sure he spun it the other way? We know they actually varied the law re arm straightening because of his bowling. Does that mean anything?

I'm happy that they tested him under test conditions. It made no difference to his accuracy, and the amount of spin he imparted. I have to guess that they tested him with every type of delivery he had in his arsenal - after all, it was to decide whether he was legit or not. And I would guess that experts in cricket would have been on hand to ensure that he was put through the mill, otherwise there would have been no purpose in testing him anyway.

Yes, You do have a point about changing the laws. I think that every bowler (or spin bowler especially) bowls a bent arm occasionally; whether they change the bend during delivery or not, is difficult to see or prove - cameras or not. However, the law itself is plain stupid. As if an umpire can make a judgement call of whether the elbow is bent (or moves) 5 degrees or 15 degrees? there's absolutely no way you can judge that - even with technology. It's all very subjective.

[Stirer]

So on the eve of the first test of a three-test series, Murali has decided to retire from Test cricket. He has only eight wickets to go for the unheard-of 800 test wickets. Will he make it or not? He believes that he has nothing left to prove, and he feels that he is keeping some young talent at bay by continuing to hog his test place. What a sportsman! What a gentleman! Its people like him who bring respect to the noble sport of cricket.

What are the chances of anyone overtaking his tally of wickets? Not any time soon, would be my guess. (I remember wondering exactly the same when Hadlee retired with a little over 400 test wickets! 400 Wickets! Who would ever get that many in their test playing lives?)

[jamstains]

So on the eve of the first test of a three-test series, Murali has decided to retire from Test cricket. He has only eight wickets to go for the unheard-of 800 test wickets. Will he make it or not? He believes that he has nothing left to prove, and he feels that he is keeping some young talent at bay by continuing to hog his test place. What a sportsman! What a gentleman! Its people like him who bring respect to the noble sport of cricket.

What are the chances of anyone overtaking his tally of wickets? Not any time soon, would be my guess. (I remember wondering exactly the same when Hadlee retired with a little over 400 test wickets! 400 Wickets! Who would ever get that many in their test playing lives?)

Courtney Walsh's tally for a fast bowler will be hard to beat. And he still can't get into the squad for a WI all time XI !