25 Jul 2010

Hadlee says controversy shouldn't cloud Murali's record

8:16 am on 25 July 2010

The controversial Sri Lankan off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan leaves Test cricket as the late Sir Donald Bradman did, with a record that will probably never be broken.

Muralitharan's 800th wicket was taken with his last ball before Sri Lanka's first test win over India at Galle and his record is up there with Sir Don's Test batting average of 99.9.

Although critics have long claimed Muralitheran threw the ball, scientific tests showed his right elbow was deformed at birth and he couldn't straighten it.

New Zealand's best-ever bowler Sir Richard Hadlee says people will always talk about Muralitharan's unusual action and the fact that he was called for throwing early in his career, but that shouldn't cloud a great achievement.