Sri Lanka’s spin-bowling legend Muttiah Muralitharan said he was definitely worried about the future of Test cricket, adding that his record of picking 800 wickets in the longer format won’t be surpassed by any bowler.
The next best off-spinners after Muralitharan in Test cricket are Australia’s Nathan Lyon (530 wickets) and India’s Ravichandran Ashwin (516 wickets). “I am definitely worried about Test cricket. Every country will play maybe only six or seven Test matches. England and Australia might play the Ashes. But in some other countries, not many people are watching. There will be very little Test cricket.”
“It’s very hard (for someone to surpass 800 Test wickets), because emphasis has shifted to short-form cricket. Also, we played for 20 years. Careers are shorter now,” said Muralitharan, who played 133 Tests for Sri Lanka, to Daily Mail on Monday.
Muralitharan, who also took 534 wickets in 350 ODIs, believes Sri Lanka, despite being on the verge of winning third Test against England at the Oval, said the visitors’ lost the series because they haven’t got the consistency needed in playing the longer format.
“Consistency is the problem. It’s not about how good they are, because they all are talented. The only thing is how can they become experienced? Nowadays, it’s difficult. There are too many tournaments and things in their heads.”
The last time Sri Lanka won a Test match at the Oval was in 1998, when Muralitharan took 16-220 to give the visitors’ a famous ten-wicket win. “The wicket was flat, and even though England got nearly 450, we got almost 600. On the fourth evening, the wicket started spinning. I used to spin the ball any day, and I got bounce. That’s why we ended up winning the match.”
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