Cricket Australia has urged home fans to treat Muttiah Muralitharan
with respect when the Sri Lankan off-spinner tours Down Under in his bid to become
the highest wicket-taker in the longer version of the game.
Muralitharan, who needs 25 wickets to equal Aussie legend Shane Warne's record
of 708, will play two more Tests against Bangladesh before Sri Lanka's tour of
Australia.
The ace offie has become a victim of sustained abuse by crowds
on previous tours. But, the troubled relationship between Muralitharan and the
Aussie crowd was temporarily healed when he visited the country for a tsunami
appeal game in 2005.
CA hoped that this time around Muralitharan would be appreciated
by the Australian fans.
"Last year we had Monty Panesar and we were really
pleased that he became a cult figure. With Murali coming back, our ambition
would be to achieve the same outcome," a CA spokesman was quoted as saying
by 'The Age.' "As Ricky Ponting said, any international cricketer
visiting Australia has the right to be treated with respect and in the same
manner as Australian players are treated. That is the bottom line," the
spokesman said, adding "our message to the public will be 'please treat
all visitors with the respect they deserve. If you don't the consequences go
through to the possibility of life bans from venues." CA has toughened
the conditions of entry and security adviser Sean Carroll will lead a police
team to London this month to help improve venue security around the country.
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