Sri Lanka’s cricket board lodged a complaint yesterday with the visiting Australians after their bowling consultant and local legend Muttiah Muralitharan was involved in a bust-up with his former colleagues. Sumathipala said: “He later confronted our team manager (Senanayake) and abused him”.
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Muralitharan is a national hero in Sri Lanka after taking 800 Test wickets, still a world record some six years after his retirement.
“If SLC had ever asked him to coach Sri Lanka he always will”, Sangakkara said.
“There are two problems here”.
Sri Lanka Cricket have also claimed that the legendary spinner conducted a centre-wicket training at the Pallekele ground without first seeking permission.
“Kandy is his hometown, and he’s now had to coach an opposition team at Pallekele”.
SLC have made a formal complaint to Cricket Australia, but the spinner has already responded via the media hitting out at Charith Senanayake, whom he believes is the source of the accusations. “We are very disappointed”.
“They have no right to accuse me of being a traitor”, said Muralitharan. The Sri-Lankan Cricket board expressed grief about the matter that a countryman is helping out its rival team.
“They didn’t want me, and someone else wanted me”.
Sumathipala went on to question why Murali was helping the Australians.
“I am not a traitor. I will be encouraging my son” as said to the Herald Sun. Have they done one hundredth of what I have contributed to cricket in Sri Lanka?
Sri Lanka Cricket officials and the Secretary to the Ministry of Sports have been asked to hand over a full report to the Parliamentary Committee of Public Enterprises (COPE) regarding “Cricket Aid”, an ad hoc body that had been set up under the Sri Lanka Cricket to collect and disburse funds for social welfare projects.
“These people are all working in different countries where they are valued more than they are here”.
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“If any Sri Lankan spinner walks up to Muri and asks him about bowling he will be the first to spend as much time as needed to help”, he added.
