By - Quintus de Zylva  ( Sri Lanka Cricket Foundation of Victoria )

PIC -  ( SNNI)

Muthiah Muralidharan has reached that magical 700 test match wicket milestone against all odds. His is an action the world had never seen before and with it came the brickbats from around the globe. He allowed himself to be subjected to such a vigorous examination that he alone could endure until finally the ICC and the cricketing world came to accept that he played the game within the rules of cricket. His eternal smile was flashed across the world when Darrel Hair “ called” him in a test match in Melbourne. Darrel Hair has since had his face wiped off the ICC cricket umpiring list whilst Murali lingers on – to receive the bouquets instead of the brickbats. Long since have the murmurs of cricket tragics, Bobby Simpson and small time Craddock's been silenced.

Murali has had his fair share of injuries. The picture shows him after surgery on one of his many visits to Melbourne. The odds were against him bowling again but he bounced back to edge closer to his spinning buddy Shane. And he now stands just eight wickets away from drawing level with the other spinning wizard of the century.

Seven hundred wickets in just 113 test matches is a far cry from the 145 test matches it took Shane Warne to reach 708 wickets. And the comparison gets even more ridiculous when we consider that he has had five wicket hauls 60 times compared to Shane Warne's 37 times and Murali has taken 10 wickets in a match twenty times whilst Shane Warne has done it just ten times! Even Murali's best bowling figures of 9 wickets for 51 runs overshadows Shane Warne's best figures of 8 wickets for 71 runs. Murali's test bowling average of 21.33 is way ahead of Shane Warne's 25.41.

What next do you ask of Murali? Cricket followers the world over will await with eager anticipation Murali's arrival down under for test matches in Brisbane and Hobart in November this year. Neither wicket will be spin friendly now that a replacement for Warnie has not been found. But wouldn't it be a tragic irony if Murali was to overtake Warnie's test wicket haul on turf that wouldn't be to his liking and in front of a cricketing nation that has treated Murali's bowling with suspicion and downright discourtesy.

Murali sets very high standards for himself. He hasn't discounted a 1000 wicket test match record before he retires! It took Murali only 12 test matches to move from 600 to 700 test wickets – so anything is possible with this Old Antonian Luckyland Kandy phenomenon.

The Sri Lanka Cricket Foundation of Victoria will continue to nurse his injuries and patch him up if he ever needs a stitch here or there! Murali we are proud of you.