Spin wizard closes on historic haul

As the lone Tamil in the Sri Lankan dressing-room, let alone the focus of more accusations and unwanted attention than any other contemporary sportsman, Muttiah Muralitharan personifies the outsider. As a symbol of all-round sporting excellence, annexing this particular record ought to defy parallel or dispute. Skill, consistency, endurance and perseverance, that quartet of prize assets, are all imperative. In his case, one can add forbearance. No great cricketer, and perhaps no great sportsman, has divided writers, officials and public quite like “Murali”, as he is known. The cause is his action, based as it is on an alliance between the game’s most flexible wrist and a deformed elbow that has convinced thousands that he is not bowling his rich variety of spinning deliveries, but illegally throwing them.