Murali says he is in no hurry to overtake Warne

Sri Lankan off-spinner Muthiah Muralitharan has said that he is in no hurry to overtake Australian leg spinner Shane Warnes Test bowling record of 708 wickets.

Sydney, Aug.25 : Sri Lankan off-spinner Muthiah Muralitharan has said that he is in no hurry to overtake Australian leg spinner Shane Warne's Test bowling record of 708 wickets.

Muralitharan needs nine more wickets to eclipse Warne's tally and become Test cricket's leading wicket-taker. The opportunity to do so would present itself during the Sri Lankan cricket team's tour of Australia in November.

"I'm not really focused about that because we're trying to play well and win matches there. The wickets are good, bouncy. They're supposed to favour fast bowlers, but I don't know if it'll be too early in November. So maybe, if I'm lucky, it will spin and I can get some wickets," The Australian Age quoted 35-year-old Muralitharan, as saying.

"If I get the wickets, then fine, otherwise I can do it in another series because I want to play another four years of Test cricket for Sri Lanka so it'll happen at some moment because I'm just nine wickets away," he added.

Muralitharan has painful memories of Australia, not least because he has taken just eight wickets in his three previous Tests here, which include the one-off Super Series Test in 2005.

He was no-balled by Australian umpires Darrell Hair and Ross Emerson during the 1995-96 tour, has frequently been heckled by home fans and even Prime Minister John Howard labelled him "a chucker".

Yet the mild-mannered Sri Lankan wants to put all that behind him and is optimistic of a warm welcome this summer.

"Hopefully I'll get a good reception. Whatever happened has gone now, it's a new thing, and hopefully they'll react in a positive way," he said.

Warne has been both friend and foe to Muralitharan during their battle to be crowned "king of spin", and they renewed acquaintances at Manchester's Old Trafford ground this week as Lancashire hosted Hampshire.

It is the first time Muralitharan and Warne have faced each other in a county championship match and the first time in a first-class match since the third Test in Colombo in March 2004, although they did clash in a one-day game between the counties in 2005.

"He (Warne) was showing me some balls that he bowls. I was just listening and trying to bowl them," the off-spinner said.

ANI