Sri Lanka spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan hopes Australia’s selectors will name leg-spinner Shane Warne in their squad for the three-match Test series between the two sides.Murali wants to race with Warne, who is available for selection after a one-year drugs ban, to the historic 500 Test wicket milestone and then on to Courtney Walsh’s 519 wicket world record.The Sri Lankan, on 485 wickets from 85 matches, has closed on Warne’s 491 wicket tally during the past year and both bowlers are now within striking distance of Walsh’s record. “I definitely want Shane to come to Sri Lanka and I am looking forward to the challenge,” Muralitharan said.Murali expects his 34-year-old rival to reach the world record first but is confident that by the end of his career he will be the world’s most prolific wicket-taker in the history of Test cricket.“He is a great bowler and is six wickets ahead so he should reach the record first, although I have the advantage that we have more matches coming up,” he said.“Shane has done cricket proud during the past decade and he is a player that I greatly admire. If he reaches the record first then good on him,” said 31-year-old Muralitharan. “Even if he does get there first though I will probably have a little bit more time than him and I can break the record after that.”Muralitharan, who bowls with a controversial bent-arm action and extracts prolific spin from a super-flexible wrist, is looking forward to the challenge of testing his abilities against the world champions.The off-spinner has averaged 5.7 wickets per Test against all opposition but only three wickets per match against Australia at a moderate 41.90 average.
