The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Muralitharan is top cricketer of 2006

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Muralitharan is top cricketer of 2006

HAPPY MOMENTS: Muttiah Muralitharan, rated as the best current off-spinner, is having a terrific run. — File Photo: V. Ganesan

LONDON: Sri Lanka spinner Muttiah Muralitharan has been voted the world's top cricketer of 2006. The award is decided by cricket journalists and editors at Wisden, which publishes its annual edition on Wednesday.

Muralitharan has taken 674 wickets in Tests and is in sight of surpassing record-holder Shane Warne, who has 708 wickets but has retired from international cricket.

The Sri Lankan becomes the fourth player to earn the accolade of `Leading Cricketer in the World' since it was started, joining Australia's Ricky Ponting and Warne, and England's Andrew Flintoff.

``He has been the heart and soul and backbone of the Sri Lankan side for more than a decade,'' Wisden writer and cricket author Simon Barnes wrote. ``He has reinvented spin bowling and created a new genre, of which he is the first and the last.''

Muralitharan, who will be 35 next month, has taken his wickets despite being born with a deformity in his arm. Some umpires and players have alleged Muralitharan's bowling action is illegal because his bent elbow helps him to spin the ball more than most bowlers.

Called and cleared

In 1995, Muralitharan was no-balled for "chucking'' by Australian umpire Darrell Hair. He was cleared by an Australian biomechanics expert but was no-balled again in Australia in 1998 and reported by English match referee Chris Broad in 2004. The ICC, after a major investigation, has ruled that his action is legal.

In 2006, using the `doosra' delivery to cause batsmen even bigger headaches, Muralitharan took 60 wickets in six Tests, taking 10 wickets in four successive Tests against major opponents.

As recently as four months ago, former New Zealand captain Martin Crowe attributed Muralitharan's success to a questionable action. Barnes attacked Muralitharan's critics, calling them ``sneerers and begrudgers, the pusillanimous possessors of small minds and large opinions.''

Reflecting the battle over the years between Muralitharan and Warne for overall supremacy, Wisden also features a front cover photograph of the Australian.

The 2007 edition published a list of players who would have won the award in the past. Australian batting great Sir Don Bradman (10) tops the list, followed by West Indies all-rounder Garfield Sobers (8).

Wisden also named five cricketers of the year on the traditional criteria of ``influence on the English season.'' Three were English — Paul Collingwood, Monty Panesar and Mark Ramprakash — along with Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene and Pakistan batsman Mohammad Yousuf. — AP

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