June 06 Thursday 2002
Muralitharan may skip Australian tour

SYDNEY: Sri Lankan spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan may miss a One-day International series with England and Australia here in December-January because of fears local umpires will call him for chucking.

The Sydney Daily Telegraph reported on Wednesday that the Sri Lankan believed Australian umpires were targetting him unfairly and it would not be worth coming there just a month before the World Cup in South Africa. 

Muralitharan may well be right. Former policeman Ross Emerson, the last umpire to no-ball the Sri Lankan, said last week the 30-year-old was paving the way for a generation of chuckers.

Emerson, who no-balled the off-spinner amid dramatic scenes in Adelaide three years ago, said it was "an absolute joke" Muralitharan was on track to become Test cricket's top wicket-taker of all time, as he neared West Indian Courtney Walsh's record of 519. Muralitharan's tally is 417 from 74 Tests. "They are talking about him as the best spin bowler ever, but how many people has he got out through legal actions?" Emerson asked in an interview with The Perth Sunday Times.

Emerson's broadside came only days after Australian vice-captain Adam Gilchrist was reprimanded by the Australian Cricket Board for saying Muralitharan's action was illegal. The International Cricket Council (ICC) have agreed with Sri Lankan officials that an "anatomical disorder" gives the illusion that Muralitharan's arm does not straighten.