A terrible chucker
MICHAEL HENDERSON Ivhen should a sportsman reveal what is said in the heat of the contest? Some performers would say 'never': what happens on the field, on court or on the course is strictly for the birds: others do not need to know.
There are always exceptions to this rule. If a performer is abused in a particularly offensive way it may be instructive to know why he is upset. But, on the whole, sneaking is not on. 'Sir, sir' is a game best left in the classroom, and even there it tends to brand the sneak as one not to be trusted. Grown men have gone through life shunned by those they once turned in for enjoying midnight feasts in the dorm (Jaffa Cakes mandatory).
Which brings us to the peculiar case of Muttiah Muralitharan, the Sri Lankan cricketer. While playing against England in Kandy, his home town, Murali accused Nasser Hussain of calling him 'a cheat' and 'a chucker' when he walked out to bat. The Sri Lankans made a big song and dance about it, and Clive Lloyd, the match referee, was soon studying television tapes of the incident to see, and hear. what really went on. The case against Hussain was not sustained, and England's players went away muttering rude things about their accusers.
It is a complicated matter but one or two things may shine a light on it. First, Murali is the star Sri Lankan bowler, an offspinner with a highly unusual action that has been deemed illegal in the past by more than one Australian umpire (hence Hussain's alleged comment about being a chucker) but which he claims is due to a physical abnormality. He is not far off 500 wickets in Test cricket, and he will shortly become the most successful bowler in Test history. So is he a national hero or cheat (Hussain's other alleged insult)?
Secondly, Hussain was the England captain when they won in Sri Lanka two years ago after three Tests of exceptional nastiness. He made a century in the second of those matches, again at Kandy, when the behaviour was at its worst. England's players were not angels but the wretched conduct of the Sri Lankans was thoroughly distasteful. For a people who are so pleasant, they make dreadfully disputatious cricketers — and on at least one occasion on that tour their abuse of the tourists was overtly racist.
The England players, however, chose not to make the offensive comments public, which is why they are so appalled by Murali's sneaking. Their view is simple. If players complained every time something was said on the field there wouldn't be a game to play. They were also miffed by the fact that Murali started this latest row by making a comment to Paul Collingwood, one of their own, on the first day of the match.
For many observers who wish Murali no harm, Hussain was right in what he did or didn't say. He is an out-and-out chucker, an absolute pinger. The official line is that his action has been scrutinised repeatedly, and he has been permitted to carry on bowling. Unofficially, umpires have been persuaded (by fear of demotion) not to call him, and so cricket cannot fail to be diminished. Sometime in the new year, Murali will become the world record-holder for wickets in Tests, with figures that will be seen by future generations. And all the game's guardians can say is: carry on chucking!
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