Ranatunga wants Murali to skip Australia tour
Posted on Oct 23, 2007 at 11:51 | Updated Oct 24, 2007 at 10:24
2 Comments
New Delhi: Australia's recent tour of India was marred by charges of racism against some spectators who made 'monkey chants' at all-rounder Andrew Symonds.
The police even detained four people in Mumbai, who were caught in camera by an Aussie journalist making gestures at Symonds.
With the focus on racism in cricket, Sri Lanka commence a tour of Australia, where their players have allegedly faced racial slurs in the past with off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan coming in for special treatment.
Former Sri Lankan captain Arjuna Ranatunga has advised Muralitharan not to go on the tour because he fears the spinner will be taunted and racially abused in the Brisbane and Hobart Test matches.
"I tell you very honestly, I told him I wish he wasn't touring Australia because of the amount of trouble he has had," Ranatunga was quoted as saying by the Sri Lankan media in Colombo on Monday.
"But he wants to go. It was up to him to decide that. My personal opinion was that he shouldn't go. I think Murali is tough enough to go through that and take whatever he gets," Ranatunga said.
Veteran cricket writer Trevor Chesterfield told CNN-IBN that he wasn't surprised by Ranatunga advising Muraliatharan to skip the tour. "I'm not surprised because after the 1998-99 tour, when Murali was called by Ross Emerson, there was a whole lot of unnecessary comments that went on."
"You have to look at it from the point of view that why he is trying to do this, because Shane Warne has told Murali, 'Come on, come and break my record'. In Australia it will be good. That's one thing," Chesterfield said.
"But I don't know whether Ranatunga has a hidden agenda here or what his agenda is. But to me, it just doesn't make sense, because, one of the biggest problems in cricket is not so much the sledging, it is the diaspora that you have in the crowds," he added.
Muralitharan has had a troubled relationship with the Australian fans and there have been chants of 'chucker' when he bowled during the last tour Down Under. Some fans even threw bananas on him during the 2004 tour.
Reacting to Ranatunga's comments, Cricket Australia (CA) Chief Executive James Sutherland on Tuesday morning said he wasn't surprised that Ranatunga asked Muralitharan not to tour Down Under.
But the CA boss was confident there would be no crowd behaviour issues in Australia this summer.
"I am not particularly surprised about that," Sutherland said of Ranatunga's comments.
"(But) Murali is clearly able to make his own decisions. He has been to Australia before. The mere fact that he is coming is fantastic for cricket and we are very much looking forward to seeing him on our shores and doing his best."
The Sri Lankan off-spinner is the second highest wicket-taker in Tests with 700 wickets and just nine away from breaking Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne's world record of 708 Test wickets.
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Total Comments: 2
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Posted By Emmveeyem
IF RACISM IN SPORTS OR IN ANY WALK OF LIFE IS A PROBLEM, THERE IS NO POINT IN RUNNING AWAY
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Posted By whiskey
Why Murli shouldn\''t? Will he get a better opportunity in this life time to leave Australian critics, fans and especially
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