Let’s cast our minds elsewhere then. Two great Sri Lankans have been in the news. One is the proud, rightful owner of a world record that may well stand for decades, if not in perpetuity; the other has, interestingly, gone against the trend and retired from Test cricket to focus on one-day cricket. Those are happier tales; of humble men who achieved big things, of the men who make watching sport a worthwhile activity.

Murali is a fine man who has achieved success in all conditions. Ignore that record in Australia, for there is a chink in every man’s armour. Warne struggled in India, Tendulkar’s record against South Africa isn’t as awesome as everything else he has done and Botham never came to terms with playing against the West Indies. If Murali’s action was the only thing that contributed to his success surely there should have been ten other Muralis by now. He has done what any man could have, he has made his point and if batsmen still can’t pick him, let’s acknowledge his genius for that is what it is. A simple man has performed brave deeds and the modern holy trinity of Warne, Murali and Kumble have made spin bowling eminently watchable. Let’s raise a toast to that.

And to that other humble destroyer, Sanath Jayasuriya. Batting in Test cricket is a more difficult profession than it is in one-day cricket and he has acknowledged that. His departure from Test cricket was imminent; runs were hard to come by, he was probably counting the singles when he might have missed a couple of boundaries in his prime, and the voice from within had spoken. But interestingly, unlike many others who give up one-day cricket to concentrate on the longer version, he has gone the other way and it makes so much sense. He still bats with freedom in the one-day game, is still Sri Lanka’s talisman cricketer even if the ball doesn’t quite obey the bowling arm every time and has set a precedent that some others might do well to follow. And even though he is now scoring runs in both Tests and one-dayers, I can well imagine that when the time comes for Tendulkar to choose, staying on in one-day cricket might be the better option.

... contd.