cricket with balls

No one has got more famous for inventing ball that pretty much goes straight. Before being worked out he was the most dangerous bowler in world cricket. Now he is Chris Harris, without the impressive hair. Bowls faster than most spin bowlers, and has never really mastered flight. Anyone who can control as many deliveries as he can should surely be able to adapt. If not, he should go to County cricket and be the first bowler to take One Million first class wickets. Is a second lieutenant in the Sri Lankan Army, in second life he sells sneakers to movie stars and on world of warcraft his avatar is a Tauren druid named Carrom.

Being that it is hard to combine his life as a cricketer with that of being a trainee Lawyer, he often takes out his work to the middle and leaves it with the umpire.  While at the non-strikers end he can often be seen looking over a contract or engaged in research for some litigation.  His batting is like being in a bath full of butter.  He is the king.  His captaincy is a bit more like leaving the butter out on a hot day and forgetting about it.  One day he will be so famous the world over that you will be able to get post cards that just have a close up picture of him and the words ‘Kumar Sangakkara – Sri Lanka’.

Many countries have pictures of their head of states in the airport.

It’s pretty fucken useless, no one cares, and it makes the leader look like a dodgy dictator.

At Colombo airport they might do that, but I didn’t see it.

What I saw was much better.

As you come through immigration, the king.

Much better than a picture of some politician.

No one ever just retires anymore.  They are always set to retire.

And Murali is set.

Sources close to him have set him, and so have the Sri Lankan website, so it can’t be long before he confirms that the Galle test against India is his last.

Murali has been slipping for a while now, in 09 he averaged 46 in test matches, which for someone as machine like as him had to be a sign.

He can still bowl, but test cricket might just be a touch too far for the 38 year old.

8 wickets are what he needs to be the first bowler to 800 wickets.  If he gets there it will be an amazing last test considering his recent test form.

As for me, I never truly warmed to Murali.

I was there when he was first called.

While I appreciate his ability to bowl so many overs and the size of his eyes, no one else is allowed to bowl with that action.  And that bothers me.

Most of the shit wasn’t his fault anyway, the dude just did his job, others campaigned for and against him, and he was used to change a flawed system for the better, even if it is still not perfect.

I already get the feeling that this will set off the debate on Warne Vs Murali, which will probably end up as boring as it is pointless.

Murali may not have been my favourite cricketer, but politics and elbows aside what a servant he was for Sri Lanka.

Some days it felt like he would bowl unchanged for the entire day, add to that living through the whole chucking shit, the boy had guts, so I may not love him, but I do respect him.