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The art of playing spin

By Ranil Abeynaike
It is the first time in the history of the game that two bowlers chased the world record for the highest number of test wickets simultaneously; not just that, it happens to be in the same game. It also happens that they are spin bowlers. Shane Warne started a couple of paces ahead and is closer to the 519 wicket prize. Warne and Muralitharan are way ahead of all the others in the craft. They trouble the top order batsmen and dismiss some of them. When it gets to the second half of the batting line they draw away and often get them.

In addition they are superbly bowling fit. They reel away bowling over after over. They can bowl long spells, then come back and continue bowling for long periods of time. Their bodies do not tire easily, their fingers also do not tire or scar and then they will come back the following day, after a long day at the office previously, and wheel away again.

Bothe players have a lot of cricket left in them. Warne has made a big effort during his period of suspension to get supremely fit. He has slimmed down and looks physically very trim. Mentally he is a very tough character.

He is also very hungry to continue to playing for as long as possible.

Muttiah Muralitharan continues to bag large hauls of wickets, particularly in the home games. He is called upon to bowl very lengthy spells and simply loves it. He certainly has many more years of delivering tantalizing, unplayable deliveries. It all depends on when he considers he's had enough.

He has indicated that it could be after the 2007 World Cup. Time will tell. It is an absolute blessing to be able to bowl so brilliantly but what about batsmen at the other end? There have been entire teams who have been all at sea to Warne and Muralitharan. That too not for one game but for an entire series at times. In short many hundreds of batsmen have been unable to read these two bowlers. Various techniques have been tried. Various forms of attacking ploys have been tried but none have stood the test.

The answer is to employ a correct technique. The most important part of the exercise is to read the delivery from the wrist. To read the type of delivery is the beginning. Should you not be able to do that then the end result will be disastrous. Judging the flight path is the next step.

This means whether to play on the front foot or back foot. Should it be on the front foot, can the feet be used to come down the pitch and meet the ball. Then it muct be decided weather the stroke must be an attacking or defensive shot. Finally, should it be an attacking stroke, should it be a straight bat or cross bat and should the ball be hit along the ground or in the air. All this must be done in a fraction of a second. It boils down to judgement. The precise message has to be passed from eye, to brain, to body. Playing spinners also means having to contend with fielders huddling around the bat. That is mental pressure. Not every batsman, even at international level can handle all of this. This series has uncovered the best. The pitches have also assisted the spinners from day one of the three test series. It has made the task of the batsmen even more arduous.

For Australia, Mathew Hayden, Damien Martyn and Darren Lehmann, together with Captain Ricky Ponting, who did not score as many as he is capable of, have stood out. All the Sri Lankan batsmen are well equipped to handle the best of tweakers, but most often they contributed to their own downfall. When under pressure the Australians handled Muralitharan much better than the Sri Lankans handled Warne.

Muralitharan picked up more wikets than Warne but that in the crucial instances of all three games, was after the damage was done. The Aussies were far ahead in mental strength. Watching the battles between Warne, Muralitharan and the wielders has been a grand cricketing experience.

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