In a country Murali bashing is a sport

SUNDAY MUSINGS with By S.R. Pathiravithana

It is a well known fact that it is only the hard at heart who can go to Australia for a cricket series and survive to fight another day. The slightest hint of a team/player or both posing a threat to their supremacy will set off a rankling which will have many repercussions on and off the field – some times even the authorities find it hard to douse. That’s cricket in Australia and the Sri Lankans at present are there to play a two Test series which is more interesting academic wise than the end result of the matches itself.

Muttiah Muralidaran

The Australians are back on their own soil though winning the Indian ODIs convincingly are smarting with the racial barracking they got from the Indian crowds – something that they savoured for the first time. One of the most senior International Cricket Umpires in Sri Lanka—Asoka de Silva once came up with an interesting anecdote about the cat calls and racial abuses in India. It went like this “I was standing with Englishman David Shepard in a match that involved India and the West Indies about 4-5 years ago in Mumbai. That time also they targeted only one player. It was the best West Indian fast bowler at that time -- Mervyn Dillon whom they targeted. There were cat calls, honking like monkeys and at times they just came out in raw filth.

“But, at that time there were no ICC indicators on crowd behaviour nor, were there any official complaints from the West Indian cricket management. So the Incident was just swept under the carpet. “Nevertheless there was one thing that was very significant. There was this dinner that followed the match. There umpire David Shepard was invited to speak. During his speech Shepard took up this incident and said that he would like to see an end to this sort of crowd behaviour at cricket matches before it scales down to the levels of soccer hooliganism”. A very significant but, untold part of cricket history.

Once again in the year of 2007 the Indian crowds singled out Australian Andrew Symonds and barracked him with a series of monkey honking, but this time the ICC was ready for it and the people concerned were charged for racial abuse. Reason for the ICC to install action against racial abuse? – The reason was Englishman Monty Panesar being singled out for racial abuse by a section of Australian crowds during their last Ashes Tour.

However the question at hand is not about the Indians or the West Indians. The present problem is about the set of Sri Lankans who are wittingly or unwittingly standing on a bombshell with even players under contract with Cricket Australia getting directly involved in crowd instigation against Sri Lankan cricketers.

The giant Australian fast bowler Jason Gillespie who is still a contracted player of Cricket Australia though out of the current playing XL for sometime, have found the shortest cut to make a kill with a autobiography. Gillespie in his book has revealed that new laws allowing bowlers to bend their elbow 15 degrees have helped Muttiah Muralidaran and Shoaib Akhtar.

In his new autobiography Dizzy, the former Test paceman also claims it was a mistake to tour Zimbabwe in 2004 because of the country's appalling human rights record. Superb timing for the launch of a new book on a theme of this nature in a country where even the country’s Prime Minister gets involved in the past time of Murali bashing.

Then just before they left their shores, Sri Lanka’s most famous cricket captain to date Arjuna Ranatunga advised off spinner Muttiah Muralitharan who is just shy of nine wickets of becoming the cricketer with the most number of scalps to his credit to give the tour a skip just for the reason of being abused by the haughty Australian crowds.

Taking this as a cue Gillespie threw another stone at the Lankan glass door. He mused --. “He might have to grin and bear it. You shouldn't have to but that's often the way it is unfortunately." Gillespie wondered what would happen if a group of people started yelling unacceptable comments, “officials are trying to do the right thing, but I think there are going to be instances." "Officials are threatening to throw out anyone using racial abuse but if a whole section of the crowd, like the blokes on the hill at Adelaide Oval, start racial abuse are they going to eject the whole hill, all 5000 people? I see where they (the officials) are coming from?

Jason Gillespie

Isn’t this blue blooded instigation? Wouldn’t the mundane Australian get worked up and try to vent his feelings after a couple of beers? It’s not that Sri Lanka has not being subjected to abuse in Australia prior to this. Ever since the day that infamous umpire Darrel Hair famously no-balled Muralitharan the bad-blood between the two sides has been simmering and so much so Murali decided give it a skip when Sri Lanka toured Australia last time.

When this column asked a very senior cricket official what action Sri Lanka Cricket was contemplating as a cricketer under a present contract with Cricket Australia instigates people. The Lankan official was oblivious as to whether Gillespie was still under contract?

The other question that comes to my mind is that since Gillespie is still under contract and is not engaged in any meaningful cricket for Cricket Australia, then perhaps his employer was using him to engage in such devious activity? If not why not explain their stand on the matter?

Then in the part of the Sri Lankan board – are they ready with a contingency plan for any eventuality? Is there a co-ordinating person other than the tour manager who is capable of handling such issues if it really does erupt?

We at this end genuinely feel that there should a team of officials ready at hand in Australia who are capable of handling such issues. At least a Mervyn without the Dillon should have been there..