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Murali Will Not Only Grin And Bear It But Probably Also Have The Last Laugh!

© Top Spin By Suni~ For LankaWeb Cricket

24th October 2007

Are Aussie Jason Gillespie's comments in the Australian Press which say" Muttiah Muralidaran may have to 'grin and bear' abuse directed at him during Sri Lanka's two-Test tour of Australia" intended to pre-empt Cricket Australia's responsibility to be vigilant and to circumvent taking preventive action to provide Muttiah Muralidharan that cushion of protection that he needs on the forthcoming tour due to begin on November 9th, one wonders and if so an apathetic effort by someone of his status?

To add to the confusion, former Sri Lankan skipper Arjuna Ranatunga too has thrown in his input towards the issue where he advises Murali in a similar voice not to participate in the tour which is the worst "namby pamby" advice anyone with any cricketing savvy could give Muralidaran at a crucial time of his career with all due respect to Ranatunga's point of view which is more protective and going out to face a challenge and to a degree understandable remembering the Aussie tour of 1995/96 and Ranatunga's role towards protecting Murali and the brave stand he took which earned him the name Captain cool!!

Had it not been for Gillespie chipping in on the same issue as Ranatunga one might have been inclined to think it was indeed delaying tactics by an Aussie to prevent Shane Warne's record from tumbling before an Aussie audience which is more than likely to happen and perhaps a sheer loss of face in the minds of a tiny minded few but the collective voicings of the two 'advisors' merely suggest mild paranoia and best ignored towards the highest precepts of the Gentlemen's Game which can only point toward a heroic return by Murali to the Australian cricketing arena where nothing should distract his objectives towards breaking Warnes record on his home turf if possible despite all the flack he has taken from the Aussies which include, some players, umpires, imperceptive conscienceless spectators and even their blinkered prime minister and what sweet revenge that would be in front of the Aussie crowds if he accomplished this!

Quite correctly Murali has rejected calls not to play and has arrived with the Lankan squad in Adelaide on Wednesday morning sounding positive and appearing in fine fettle as he spoke to the press saying. "I am looking forward to the tour very much" indicative of his mood as reported in the Herald Sun. He should have no hang ups whatsoever with all the moral support of his playing buddies and entourage and if push comes to shove" to hell with the catcalls of the spectators if he has to put up with them!" All he needs to do is remove his obstacles at the crease which will invariably silence his tormentors! All the rhetoric that comes his way seems to be based on a dormant fear by many of the Aussies who consider him a serious threat to their image as well as their reputation and all this over a game of cricket!! Tut Tut!

The indomitable Muralitharan despite being targeted by Australian crowds since he was no-balled by Darrell Hair in Melbourne during the 1995-96 tour does however have an inbuilt capacity for grinning and personifying a unique brand of Joie de Vivre quite without any hackneyed or better still, cockneyed advise from Gillespie who has been quoted as saying "With Murali coming out he always cops a gobful in Australia and he'll be expecting to cop that again, He might have to grin and bear it. You shouldn't have to but that's often the way it is unfortunately." where it appears to be Gillespie who needs to clamp his gob and let Murali get on with his game and worry about crowd behaviour if need be, with a little help from the Australian authorities who may be in need of some coaching with respect to crowd control if they haven't already perfected their techniques!! "

As for the 'Hair Issue" it needs no emphasizing that the whole world now knows the mentality of Mr.Hair which has cast him in near infamy, practically costing him his vocation more than in a manner of speaking despite the latest ICC theatrics relative to the issue and rumblings about re-instating him to umpire at the highest level, a gross mistake perhaps! and held in very poor esteem by a huge congregation of cricket followers around the globe who tend to ridicule more than adulate him with his acumen for controversy, his verbosity (not always used to uphold the laws of cricket ) and his contentious presence at the highest level of the game as some seem to think. Perhaps poetic justice for some of his victims who suffered as a result of his indiscretions and errors of judgement and may well have been vindicated and the matter best laid to rest!

To get back to the Murali issue per se ~If Jason Gillespie is wondering what would happen if a group of people started yelling unacceptable comments at Murali., he should be made aware that the authorities have threatened to throw out anyone using racial abuse and misbehaving ( a normal procedure in any major sporting event around the world today) and to his query about "a whole section of the crowd, like the blokes on the hill at Adelaide Oval, starting racial abuse and are they going to eject the whole hill, all 5000 people? Darned right they should! The authorities in this case the Australian Cricket Board in conjunction with the local police should have no compunctions about it and have every right to clear the Hill despite the rigours that may be involved! as indeed they would be doing the right thing, and if there are going to be 'instances' dear Mr Gillespie they will have to be dealt with wouldn't they in the best interests of the gentlemen's game ? as much as was done to discourage soccer hooliganism by the Brits who brought disrepute to their country as Europe responded to British hooligans in the '80s and '90s where today there is hardly a peep from those culprits who are some of the best behaved spectators in the world content to sing out their frustrations if their heroes arent exactly faring well !. Maybe some of the frustrated Aussie spectators too should take up singing " Waltzing Matilda" as opposed to throwing racially motivated chants at one of the world's greatest cricketers who is also a wonderful human being, in order to permeate the Aussie cricketing environments with serenity and true competitive spirit rather than sully them with racist ephithets and sledging!!

Regardless of what may have transpired over the years, if Australia who is hosting the two test series with Sri Lanka and a triangular involving India fails to maintain order amongst the crowds quite apart from what transpires on the playing fields which have stump microphones as a preventive measure today against player misconduct and sledging, they would have missed their cue towards quelling what may turn out to be a major issue and perplex the cricketing world already skeptical about their attitude which seems to have been a tad more than mere indifference.

Mutttiah Muralidaran could well be the catalyst towards resolving this major issue and his presence on the Aussie tour perhaps imperative towards exemplary behaviour, one of his inherant traits contrary to his antagonists and forebearers of gloom!

Murali will surely be the cynosure of all eyes in the series as moves to claim the nine wickets needed to pass Shane Warne's Test record of 708 which now seems a foregone conclusion whether it be in Australia or elsewhere!

And he will not only grin and bear it but probably also have the last laugh!

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