Muttiah Muralitharan has launched a blistering attack on Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) after they complained to the Australian team management about his behaviour in his new role as a spin consultant to the visitors.

After his former bosses said Muralitharan was damaging his legacy, the 44-year-old former offspinner – still the highest wicket-taker in Test history – accused SLC of setting him up as a fall guy, someone to blame, if Sri Lanka ended up losing the upcoming Test series.

Muralitharan also accused the Thilanga Sumathipala, the SLC president, of knowing nothing about cricket, all along angrily denouncing any suggestion of being a traitor.

If Sri Lanka loses, they (the board) will say it is because of Murali, he said in a recorded statement on Monday (July 25). They have no right to accuse me of being a traitor. Have they done one-hundredth of what I have contributed to cricket in Sri Lanka? This is a political game to cover their shortcomings. I am being used as a pawn to cover their failings, he added.

His outburst was sparked by a complaint by the SLC earlier on Monday that he had bullied groundsmen into letting the Australians train on the pitch that will be used for the opening match of a three-Test series from Tuesday.

Cricket Australia confirmed they received a complaint about the incident at Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, on the outskirts of Kandy, but said the issue had been resolved.

-AFP
-Agencies