The leading catcher in test cricket history has run out of recommendations Australian spinner Nathan Lyon he will find anywhere near his elegant record.
Former retired Sri Lankan sprinter Muttiah Muralitharan sits at the top of the full-time 800-scalps Test wicket list – a record that will never be released.
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To put Muralitharan ‘s remarkable performance into view, the second best catcher in trial history, Shane Warne, retired with 708 dismissals.
When asked if he thinks any of the established crops of spinners, or the youngest army that is coming through can cross the 700-wicket barrier, Muralitharan said that he believed that Ravichandran Ashwin of India had a chance.
However, the big Sri Lankan man brutally blocked Nathan Lyon ‘s chances.
“Ashwin has a chance because he’s a good bowler,” Muralitharan told the UK Telegraph.
“Other than that, I don’t think a younger bowler will go into 800.
“Nathan Lyon may not be good enough to reach. It’s close to 400 but it takes a lot of games to get there. ”
Entering Friday’s fourth test at the Gabba, Lyon, 39-year-old, has 396 wikis compared to Ashwin’s 377-year-old 377.
Muralitharan’s comments are surprising considering that Lyon, at 33, is younger than Ashwin, who is 34-years-old, but has 19 more test wikis to his name.
Ashwin’s 377 test scalps have come in at an average of 25.53 runs and a strike rate of 54 balls, but Lyon’s figures are slightly higher, with the Aussie averaging 31.98 and a strike rate of 63.9.
Warne is backing Lyon to challenge Murali
While Muralitharan may not think Lyon are good enough to get close to the 700-wicket mark, Warne wrote in the recent Herald Sun that he believes the one-day spinner could even face a major challenge to Sri Lankan.
“If he keeps himself free from injury, I think he could easily go on for another five years,” Warne wrote.
“That’s about 50 more tests, and if he continues to take four wikis per game, that’s another 200 – or maybe 250 if he has five golden years – test wickets.
“You put that on top of the 400 and he is in the 600-650 wicket club at the age of 38.
“And if it’s still going well it may have a crack on me and Murali, which would be awful to see. ”
With no standout spinning candidate knocking down the door to secure Lyon’s place in the Australian Test side, Sydney Sixers spinner Steve O’Keefe dismissed Muralitharan’s analysis.
“Bull *** t, Gaz will definitely get 700,” he said on SEN radio.
“If you look at it, it has to work hard to get there. But he may play 10-12 Tests a year, if he takes five Tests.
“A lot of these trips go to the sub-country where he does a lot of the heavy lifting, he could do more.
“Is anyone nearby? There may be some young leggies coming through (it could take a place in the Test team), but it could play for another four or five years and I think it will bring real shake it. ”
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