Muttiah Muralitharan the magician puts his critics in a spin

He came skipping to the crease to bowl the fateful delivery. The Indian tail-ender plunged artlessly forward, the ball took the edge of the bat, first slip snaffled the catch and a thousand firecrackers exploded in celebration. Muttiah Muralitharan’s 800th Test wicket was the happiest moment of the sporting week, perhaps of the entire sporting summer.

And joy was universal, since Murali is a man of gentle dignity, a player who wears his genius lightly. Who could fail to be affected by the joy which erupted in the town of Galle, at the ground he has made his own?
The history man: Muttiah Muralitharan hoists his arms aloft after the dismissal of Indian cricketer Pragyan Ojha - his 800th Test wicket

The history man: Muttiah Muralitharan hoists his arms aloft after the dismissal of Indian cricketer Pragyan Ojha - his 800th Test wicket

Certainly not John Howard, the former Prime Minister of Australia, who announced, with only the merest hint of the bleeding obvious: ‘I think Muralitharan is a wonderful bowler.’

And not Bob Willis, the former captain of England, who recently observed: ‘No praise is too high for Muttiah Muralitharan, a spinner for whom the adjective “great” is entirely just... Although he’s had to put up with a lot through his career, he’s always played the game with a smile on his face.

‘Unfortunately, there will always be a cloud over his action in some people’s minds but over the years the ICC has relaxed the rules over the degree of bend in a bowler’s arm and Murali’s action is nothing other than legal.’

Yet even that testimonial paled by comparison with Nasser Hussain’s valediction: ‘One of the all-time iconic cricketing figures... a lovely guy... I believe that bowlers with unusual actions add something to the game, make it more interesting, and none is more interesting than Murali. Give me him rather than an orthodox offspinner any day.’

Now it seems almost offensive to doubt such sincerity. But doubt we must. In 2004, in a typical piece of populist prattle, Howard derided Murali as ‘a chucker’.

Of course, we should not expect consistency from a fourth-rate politician. Rather, we should be thankful his subsequent attempt to become president of the ICC has been so splendidly sabotaged.

Willis is a more serious case. In 2004, a body of former Test players urged a relaxation of the laws which govern throwing. They had been persuaded that it is virtually impossible to bowl with a completely straight arm.

Consequently, they recommended a tolerance level of 15 degrees, which would render Muralitharan totally legitimate. Willis was unimpressed.

‘Most good judges of cricket can tell whether there’s something wrong with a guy’s bowling action,’ he said.

‘You can take or leave the scientific stuff. Muralitharan and Shoaib Akhtar have supposedly had their actions remodelled and been cleared but I can’t see anything different in them at all.’

In other words, do not try that ‘scientific stuff’ on our Bob. He is ‘a good judge.’ He can tell.