Australian cricket chief hails Murali

SYDNEY (AFP) — Australia's cricket chief Tuesday brushed aside criticism of Sri Lanka's record-breaking spinner Muttiah Muralitharan, saying he should be hailed for his "great feats".

Muralitharan, who broke Australian Shane Warne's world record for most Test wickets by taking his 709th against England in Kandy on Monday, has faced criticism in the past over the legitimacy of his bowling action.

"I don't think it's appropriate to criticise," Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland told a news conference.

"I think at a time like this we should be lauding the great feats of Muttiah Muralitharan and the fact that he's broken the record and shown incredible performances over a long period of time to be the number one wicket taker in Test history."

Sutherland noted that Warne did not begrudge Muralitharan the record and said the Australian's demotion to No.2 on the all-time list did not detract from his success.

"I don't think it's appropriate to compare, we're talking about two of the great bowlers of all time," he said.

"Murali is now the number one but that doesn't in any way diminish the achievements of Shane Warne and what he did.

"Shane had a fantastic career that was in some ways cut short in terms of the number of matches he played.

"He had some quite severe injuries and obviously a suspension as well in the middle there. So he had a fantastic career and I don't think it's a matter of comparison."

Muralitharan, playing his 116th Test, bowled Paul Collingwood to grab his fifth wicket in the innings and surpass retired Warne's world record tally of 708 wickets in 145 matches.

Leg-spinner Warne was unstinting in his praise for the off-spinner who dethroned him.

"I congratulate Murali for breaking the record I had," Warne said Monday. "It was nice to have the record for a short while but I knew I would only have it for a short time."

"Murali has said he wanted to take 1,000 Test wickets and he has every chance of getting there.

"If he does I don't think anyone else will catch him."