Murali-Hair duel in middle!

Sri Lankan cricket captain Sanath Jayasuriya today downplayed the appointment of Australian umpire Darrell Hair to officiate the tri-nations...

Sri Lankan cricket captain Sanath Jayasuriya today downplayed the appointment of Australian umpire Darrell Hair to officiate the tri-nations series clash between Sri Lanka and England here.

Tomorrow’s match will be the first time Hair and controversial spin bowler Muttiah Muralitharan have met this summer. Hair, who no-balled Muralitharan for throwing during the Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in 1995-96, has been confirmed as Zimbabwean Russell Tiffin’s umpiring partner for the encounter.

Jayasuriya shrugged off the appointment, saying Muralitharan was more concerned about returning to his best in time for the World Cup than Hair’s appearance in the middle. “No problem, it’s no problem,” Jayasuriya insisted.

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Jayasuriya also claimed Muralitharan was unconcerned about sections of the crowd yelling “no ball” when the 30-year-old off-spinner bowled against Australia in Sydney on Thursday, in his first game after a hernia operation. “That doesn’t bother him any more,” Jayasuriya said of the taunts. “We don’t bother about whatever the crowd says because we know he has proved himself as the number one bowler in the world.”

“That is what matters to us. He just wants to enjoy his cricket. He’ll always give the Sri Lanka team 100 per cent all the time. That is all he wants to do.”