Gurusinghe makes a plea to the Aussie public

Former Sri Lanka World Cup champion batsman Asanka Gurusinha has made an impassioned plea for an end to the simmering tension between Australian and Indian teams and the relentless verbal abuse directed at Sri Lanka’s king of spin Mutthiah Muralitharan by Australian supporters during the coming summer of cricket in Australia.

“Being the administrators of the world champion team, Cricket Australia must seriously address the issue this summer and ensure that the game is restored to one of enjoyment and normalcy for all concerned if the future of the sport is to avoid an inevitable volatile situation that threatens to mar what is expected to be a keenly fought out series”, Gurusinha told Serendib News in Melbourne.

“There’s no need for Australian crowds to hurl abuse at players of visiting teams and particularly Murali, who has ridden the unsavoury bumps of the past and moved on to prove what a fantastic contributor to the game of cricket he is” Gurusinha added. Gurusinha’s observations have been echoed by Andrew Symonds who was recently the target of unruly Indian fans during Australia’s one-day series which had the entire Australian team jump to his defence in the face of a torrent of verbal abuse.

Asked what he thought of the series involving Sri Lanka, Gurusinha told Serendib News, “It’s going to be a good series because Sri Lanka have proved over the past few years that they have emerged from their comfort zone and can actually win away from home. This is a good thing because they are capable of troubling the Aussies who will be a different prospect without Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne in their attack”“Sri Lanka have beaten teams like England and New Zealand away from home so they will be a chance to challenge Australia because unlike in the past, their bowling attack rates with the best in the world.” He said.

Gurusinha recalled Murali’s last Test match in Australia in 1995 when he himself was a team mate in Sri Lanka’s touring side under Arjuna Ranatunge. Australia’s batsmen tore into Murali on that occasion and subsequent controversy involving Darrel Hair almost destroyed his confidence.

“He is a much improved and seasoned campaigner now and his maturity and freakish ability will spur him on to erase the bad publicity he has been getting from the Australians about getting most his wickets on sub-continental tracks” Gurusinha said.

Gurusinha makes a plea to the Aussie public

By Trevine Rodrigo in Melbourne

Gurusinha recalled Murali’s last Test match in Australia in 1995 when he himself was a team mate in Sri Lanka’s touring side under Arjuna Ranatunge. Australia’s batsmen tore into Murali on that occasion and subsequent controversy involving Darrel Hair almost destroyed his confidence.

“He is a much improved and seasoned campaigner now and his maturity and freakish ability will spur him on to erase the bad publicity he has been getting from the Australians about getting most his wickets on sub-continental tracks” Gurusinha said.