What's in a poll?

This the latest poll from the Herald Sun, just one of a plethora of Australian newspapers in huge admiration over Murali's Test record, I'm sure you'll agree! What is strange are the results over the last few days. Perhaps a case of sub-continent ex-pats refreshing the page, or have the Aussie public suddenly realised the freak nature of Kandy's spin king over their own Shane Warne? Below left is the same poll from two days ago, from After Grog's Blog.




But then there is this quote from former Cricket Australia chairman and Test umpire Col Egar, who once no-balled Australian paceman Ian Meckiff for throwing. "I couldn't care less about him. As far as I am concerned they should have a separate record for bowlers with illegal actions. Warne deserves the record and in my book he will always be the record holder. I've got a photo at home of Murali's arm bending at 48 degrees. The tests they did on him were rubbish. The only tests that matter are those conducted under match conditions. The administrators of the game have got to take the blame for letting his action go."

Ten of the best

A press release circulated "on behalf of eBay India":

This once in a lifetime opportunity to face the ace cricketer Murali is available to all cricket fans and eBay users worldwide. Log onto eBay India (www.ebay.in/charity) to bid on the charity auction between December 4 and December 11, 2007. The highest bidder will face 10 deliveries from the master spinner on December 16, 2007 at the Seenigama Oval in Galle, Sri Lanka.

After his nine wickets in Kandy perhaps Murali can now claim all ten against the hapless, but no doubt happy, winning bidder. *A note to the highest bidder: Remember that Murali just loves a maiden over, so if you fail to register anything from your first six balls, just be prepared for the next four. **Note to ICC in Dubai: Like the ICC Super Series, this is non-Test status so should not be counted towards Murali's wicket haul.

Healy magic moment

From the Sydney Morning Herald's The Tonk blog:

Fifteen years and 702 Test wickets have passed since Muttiah Muralitharan made his Test debut against Australia in Colombo, but Ian Healy remembers the occasion well. When Muralitharan was introduced into the attack for the first time, the then Australian wicketkeeper was positioned at the non-striker's end as Border took strike. According to Healy, Border played and missed throughout the over, then sought a centre wicket conference to discuss the rookie "leg spinner" and his unorthodox action. "Umm, I think he's an offie, mate," Healy retorted, much to Border's bemusement.