Australia grabbed a handy 86-run lead in the first innings over Sri Lanka and dealt an early blow with the new ball before rain washed out the entire final session for the second consecutive day in the first test at Pallekele on Wednesday.
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Muralitharan said he got involved with Australia because he loved cricket and that Sri Lanka’s cricket board had sought help from him only once since his worldwide retirement in 2011. “And the field settings are a little bit different, along with the fact these guys [the Sri Lankans] will probably sweep a bit more and play shots that we don’t typically see in Australia”, he said. Quite similar to Rangana Herath, the way he bowls in these conditions.
“We know what happened to Marvan Atapattu, Chaminda Vaas, Chandika Hathrusinghe, Upul Chandana and Ruwan Kalpage”. Australia had won 3-0 on the occasion.
The visitors trail Sri Lanka by 51 runs in the first innings.
Sri Lanka would only make 117 with Dhananjaya de Silva top scoring with 24, while no one in the top three got out of single figures.
Smith, who is yet to lose a test when leading the side, said he would also have batted first had he won the toss. They have finally had their main strike bowler Mitchell Starc back after a long injury and can be very destructive at the start of the match and they also have David Warner on their side who is one the most destructive batsman in the world and the captain Steven Smith himself who is the number 1 batsmen in test cricket.
And Muralitharan, the highest wicket-taker in Test history, then accused the board president of knowing nothing about cricket and angrily denounced any suggestion of being “a traitor”.
Mathews and Rangana Herath are the only remaining players of proven class, while recent injuries have reduced the ranks still further.
During an 18-year Test career, Muralitharan – who was born with a partially deformed elbow – was twice cited by Australian umpires for a suspect action but was cleared both times by the game’s governing body.
A total of 117 is going to be a tough ask to defend for any side in the world and the Sri Lankans may find themselves chasing big during their second innings.
On Monday, Smith received the ICC Test championship mace and US$1m in prize money from ICC CEO David Richardson after Australia claimed the No1 ranking by the annual April 1 cut-off date.
Herath maintained pressure throughout most of the session, bowling in three spells with only short breaks separating them.
“Yeah I hope so”, he said.
“You have got to be prepared to get your runs in one and twos”. A strong 72 in the tour match against a Board XI was an encouraging start for the opener.
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“Lot of hard work ahead of us”, he said. Along with a friend I’ve opened the Foundation of Goodness, where every year we help 50,000 families.
