The Chesterfield Files

Sad as it is, Yahaluweni, plans by Muttiah Muralitharan to possibly retire before the next World Cup makes sense.

You need to be fit to bowl long spells and while four or five years ago he was able to give his captain and the team possibly 30 overs or more a day, it reaches the stage where, as he has explained in India after the mauling in Kanpur, how difficult it is becoming. Now after 15 overs, the body is getting tired and the supporters need to listen to the man who has largely carried the bowling attack on his slim shoulders for so long.

And for those buffoons who wanted to take up a petition some time ago who demanded that he continue playing until he had taken 1,000 wickets, it is time to seriously understand just how much punishment a body can take. Warning signals were clear enough when in early July, almost on the eve of the first Test against Pakistan in Galle, he pulled up lame with a leg injury that took time to heal.

It is why Rangana Herath was recalled from a county stint with Surrey where his eight wickets were taken at an expensive 53.87, although his economy rate was good at 3.97. As he had bowled 108 overs for the county at the stage in the four-day championship it made sense to give him a chance. The rest as they say, is history.

Sri Lanka media critics were not prepared to acknowledge how the Kerala tyro Sreesanth was forcing the batsmen into making errors with his tight line and length.

Bowling in India is different from the softer conditions in England and far different to those he found in Sri Lanka in the Tests against Pakistan and New Zealand.

The point is, that at 37, Murali is reaching a stage in his life where his physical condition is showing serious strain after 131 Tests where he has bowled more the 43,000 balls at batsmen in matches (forget the slogs he has also played in). It was obvious from the way he bowled on that unforgiving Motera pitch in the first Test, and the more helpful one at Green Park, that there were compounding problems. The biorhythms were not quite right and the smile he normally gives had become a grimace.

All this shouted that the ‘time to retire’ is now. Let the followers of the game remember him as he is and not that of a has been. There is nothing worse than watching a great player struggling as the impressive thing here is that Murali has admitted how the energy needed to play in 131 Tests has taken its toll.

His comment as well of how the figure of 800 Test wickets it just a number is a reminder to those who would try and push him on the 1,000 Test wickets figure think of the man and not vainglory.

The memory of his pre-Asia Cup tournament preparation at the Nondescripts Cricket Cub in Maitland Place in 2004 was interesting. The question had been about the legality of the ‘doosra’. Talking to the media at the time, he indicated that now allowing him to bowl it meant he felt like a one-legged man being asked to walk without a crutch.

All of this, however, doesn’t hide how Sri Lanka were thrashed by an innings and 144 runs at Green Park in Kanpur. Maybe the toss was a factor; it is hard to gauge one way or the other. The beauty of the five-day game is the behaviour of the pitch. The wear and tear it gets through the bowlers and batsmen is one of the mysteries of the game. Unlike Motera, where after lunch on day one, the pitch gave the impression the game was transferred to the local highway, Green Park held some hidden threat that emerged only later.

No one can really blame the Sri Lanka selectors and the team management for going into the Test with three spinners. The last Test was over in three days with the spinners taking the bulk of the wickets and no one has yet, as far as it can be seen in the Sri Lanka media, given just credit (Kumar Sangakkara apart) for the way Shanthakumaran Sreesanth bowled in the first innings in what was a quality performance.

It is all about how badly Sri Lanka batted on day three, where the Test was really won by India, which explains that instead of analysing the way Sreesanth performed, they are not prepared to acknowledge how the Kerala tyro was forcing the batsmen into making errors with his tight line and length. Much was said about Chanaka Welegedara at Motera that first morning and how brilliantly he bowled. Why not say the same about Sreesanth? And excuses of dubious decisions do not sit well either as it is a poor apology.

When reviewing day three for the Indian website CricketNext.com, the following was written and (edited version) is repeated here through their courtesy and is designed to give a more balanced view of that day’s play.

"Temperamental he maybe and smart with it, but Sreesanth seems to have taken to heart the time spent with Allan Donald, who he regards as a type of ‘guru’ when playing for Warwickshire. He is a better bowler for it as well and the impact he has had on this game is that his six wickets so for in the two innings is quiet a remarkable comeback and laid to waste Sri Lanka’s pre-tour boast that they would overcome the jinx of not having won a Test in India.

"With 13 wickets falling in a day and only 217 runs scored, Sri Lanka are not only staring down the barrel, the last rites are not too far off either. Not that it was all Sreesanth who did much to take a remarkable haul of five first innings wickets in his comeback match. There were some horrendous strokes as well with the captain, Kumar Sangakkara, twice chopping the ball on to his stumps, off the edge of the bat.

"The first innings effort was when he was attempting to drive though the covers only to stretch too far and commit the error. When Thilan Samaraweera did the same 10 runs later, the Nelson Bell of 111 tolled for the innings as Angelo Mathews was made to look yet again particularly out of his class as well as depth. Harbhajan Singh was just too clever and bowled him with a nicely flighted ball as the batsman’s footwork, what there was of it, indicated he was looking for the ball to spin.

"Maybe the team’s so-called shadow coach, Chandika Harturusinghe can supply a few answers, the same can be said for Stuart Law, the new assistant coach, appointed because he ‘knows the conditions’ instead of Venkatesh Prasad.

"Sri Lanka should have been wary though of the confidence their media placed on how they would save the Test by overcoming the follow-on. The five wickets that Rangana Herath picked up for 12 runs on Wednesday that saw the Indian innings collapse in a grotesque heap akin to an unceremonious Wall Street like meltdown should have been warning enough.

"This though wasn’t placid Motera and a continually misfiring Ishant Sharma who Sreesanth replaced. The pitch wasn’t doing all that much, just turning sharper and Pragyan Ojha is the ideal foil for Bhajji as Sreesanth is for Zaheer Khan.

"There was certain déjà vu in the second innings when Mahela Jayawardene tried to work the ball past Rahul Dravid again in the lone slip position and the normally reliable fieldsman dropping a more difficult chance this time. Then we had the ‘hari kari’ moment of the innings with Sangakkara on the charge and Mahela had to go as well while Yuvraj Singh smartly threw to Mahendra Singh Dhoni and the run out catastrophe took place."

Sangakkara’s own comment on the event is worth repeating here as it explains how what you see from the sidelines is so often different from what actually takes place on the field.

"It was something that we didn’t need at that time," he reflected. "I thought the ball went into the gap, but it curved right into Yuvraj’s hands. It was just one of those things where I made a bad call. It didn’t disturb my concentration. You go through that, you think about it, but you are professional enough to put that behind you and keep going. Unfortunately, I got out in the next over and that put us back in trouble."

What has been of genuine interest is that there were two other Tests being played and where there were results and despite 19-year-old Adrian Barath’s century on a Test debut in Brisbane where he failed to prevent the West Indies losing by an innings and 65 runs, the game in refrigerated confines in Dunedin has been classified as the Test of the year.

Others will argue, but watching it was far better than going to Pallekelle and the opening of a new venue. Also, the conditions and the batting and bowling made up for watching the Green Park debacle. Pakistan won the toss and sent New Zealand into bat, thinking they had the bowlers to knock over the Kiwis. Daniel Vettori tried to do a Mahela type stroke and run the ball past slip to be dismissed for 99, while Ross Taylor put together two classic half centuries and did deserve a first innings century.

Remarkable as well was that brilliant debut Test century and second innings effort by another 19-year old in Umar Akmal, maybe so was the Kiwis bowling with Shane Bond who missed the Tests in Sri Lanka as he wasn’t quite ready and Iain O’Brien, who bowled badly in both games in the island, showed what he can do.

Who said Test cricket was dead? The Aussies and the Kiwis know how to liven up the game, even if Sri Lanka are now groping for crumbs of comfort in Mumbai.