The Mendis factor: Sri Lanka's new spin-king looks the heir to Murali's cricket throne

People thought the same about the "frog in a blender" Paul Adams, but batsmen soon figured him out. Haven't seen this new guy bowl ( we don't like to show non-Aussie games here down under), but he's got a long way to go before he'll be the equal of Murali. As for the married life - maybe some flowers and chocolates might help. Cheers.

It does not matter what he is going to do in the future , to take 3 wickets as a debutant in a international match is something to talk about.Well done Ajantha keep taking wickets

It is time to keep one or two spinners in the team to replace Murali one day.

Was susrprised to see such a wrily spinner coming from nowhere? Thanks for the scout who picked him and the best thing that can happend to Sri Lankan cricket. Good luck Ajantha / Chees Kingsley

I completely agree. I thought he was better than Murali currently. But of course Murali's best days are behind him. This is no criticism of Murali. No country India included will produce a better bowler than Murali. But I thought Mendis was awesome. He was impossible to read and did not give easy scoring oppertunities. However will he have the consistency of Murali? I hope so because along with the likes of Mainga Sri Lanka will become an exciting side to watch.

Yah..He is d going to be the next murli in Srilankan Team

once the aussies have a look at him and decide that he chucks then we know he has become a threat!! lol!! dont worry craig you'll see him soon enough!

Don't tell me Sri Lanak have produced another darts player masquerading as a spinner!! Very unkind Marsh, but if he's that good, they should have brought him out here last summer. Goodness knows Murali did nothing!!

Craig Hackney, He did as much as Warne did in India against India. Oh wait. :)

its good to see that mendis proforemed well, but if some one saying that he is better that murali i am totaly disagree cause murali is a person who can ball any time fram, thats comes with the experince, we seen last years people come and then they will profome for one or two match . but sri lankan cricket bord have to protect thees kind of ballers cause of we are in the time of need to some one to replace murali.

tsk tsk!! as always it is only you'll who have a problem with murali's action and that also once he started threatning the aussies. so once mendis starts threatning them he'll be called darts thrower et al. oh wait have you'll found some spinner who can get a wicket after the retirement of warne??

Fair point about Aussie spinners since Warne -the cupboard really is bare. McGill is a pie chucker and all we have apart from him is rubbish left-arm orthodox - very sad indeed. I really don't think that I'm the only one who thinks Murali's action is dodgy. I still haven't seen Mendis bowl, but if he straightens his arm as much as Murali, we'll call him a chucker - if not we'll stand back and applaud. People think that Aussies have a problem with Murali out of fear, but he truth is that he just doesn't do that well against us - especially when compared to how he does against other countries. There are plenty of bowlers around who do very well against us that we have no problems with. Murali's action is legal under the new rules, but it wasn't under the old rules - that is the finding of the ICC, not Aussie fans or media.

Murali got tremendous leverage due to the bend in his elblow, which looks like chucking. Though he passed all tests, like Warne said, he should have been filmed during real matches. Who knows how much more he bent his elbow. Even Shoaib Akhtar was accused of chucking when he produced some of the unplayable deliveries. Sri Lankans wqill swear by him because Murali played for their team. But as a neutral observer, I do not consider Murali's action as genuine. If he got hundreds of wickets, it does not thrill me. There should be some limits imposed on bowling action. If people are allowed in because of natural deformities, tomorrow who knows, someone with ten feet arms might get in and get away with his actions. There has to be some criteria set up for qualifying. It is not fair for other teams who have to face someone who gets a privilege due to physical deformities that can make his deliveries unplayable under certain circumstances. Murali got most of his wickets against third tier teams. He was not so successful in India, Pakistan or Australia.

we've been over this. if we're talking about old rules then except for Sarwan none of the other bowlers were legal! which is why the ICC changed the rules. and also it was deemed that if the flexation was under 15% then the bowler does not derive an advantage. if the old rule remained in place then glenn mcgrath nor harbajhan singh will be able to bowl. so should we take away their achievements as well!! as for murali getting wickets angainst bangla or zimbabwe well there was a few articles on cricinfo which they've done a statistical study which showed that even against better teams there was no real differrence between warne and murali! Partha please check that for further clarification .as im not statistician i think murali 's poor record against australia was set off against warne's poor record against India. anyways craig i think if you let your personal feelings aside and look at the whole thing as a whole you'll see that nothing was done just to accommodate murali! and he remains in my eyes and inmost people's eyes ( except for a fe2w anmd manly aussies) a true champion.

we've been over this. if we're talking about old rules then except for Sarwan none of the other bowlers were legal! which is why the ICC changed the rules. and also it was deemed that if the flexation was under 15% then the bowler does not derive an advantage. if the old rule remained in place then glenn mcgrath nor harbajhan singh will be able to bowl. so should we take away their achievements as well!! as for murali getting wickets angainst bangla or zimbabwe well there was a few articles on cricinfo which they've done a statistical study which showed that even against better teams there was no real differrence between warne and murali! Partha please check that for further clarification .as im not statistician i think murali 's poor record against australia was set off against warne's poor record against India. anyways craig i think if you let your personal feelings aside and look at the whole thing as a whole you'll see that nothing was done just to accommodate murali! and he remains in my eyes and inmost people's eyes ( except for a fe2w anmd manly aussies) a true champion.

Yes Marsh, we have danced this dance before, but I will never be convinced that the rules were not changed to accomodate Murali and as a former spin bowler, I don't believe that there is no advantage to be gained from straightening by as little as 15degrees. As for the argument about McGrath and others, they were never tested scientifically instead estimates were taken from match footage. But even taking your assertions to be correct, there have also been many who claim that Murali's action is more exaggerated in games which is why he bowls at 90km/h in matches, but on 75km/h when being tested. I suspect that we will never agree on this one but, believe me, this is not born out of some attempt to protect Warne, I have held these concerns since I first saw him bowl. Cheers.

well maybe they should have been tested :). the ICC would not have changed rules to accommodate one bowler. its unfair just to harp on murali when if takeingyour argument to consideration everyone should have been tested. so until that happens and then someone shows me that murali gains an absolute advantage and/or straightens his elbow more than the others there's no point in talking about it. cause the brilliance i his bowling comes from his wrist!and i guess the word of experts in the field of biomechanis is not good enough for you and you believe you are right! thats the way to do it. rubbish all the scientific evidence because you dont believe it to be true. :) cheers!!

I've worked in a scientific research institute for 25 years and frankly scientists will give you what you want to hear when you are paying the bill. What Murali does with the ball is staggering. I am in awe of his abilty to get turn and bounce and it is only the doosra that is at issue and I will never be convinced that he doesn't bowl it differently in games. Are you honestly saying that you see absolutely nothing wrong with his doosra action, that there is no doubt in your mind that he doesn't straighten more the 15 degrees? If so then we shall have to agree to disagree yet again. As for the ICC changing rules for one person, I think that it is exactly the sort of thing that they would do. There is a lot invested in Murali in terms of credibility, if the world's best bowler is found to be a "chucker" it is the game that suffers. Good to "talk" to you again. Cheers.

mendis is a good spinner i must say.he was brought to the side too late.i am sure he will be one of sri lankas greatest spinner in time to come.

It seems to be that everyone out here has a problem with murali ahh.,, what can i say about this..if aussies doing this that’s kool because we all know that they have all sort of problems with everything and they keep on doing that, actually it’s not them..it’s their blood….what im trying to say is they were deported from England so it is pretty obvious..i don’t want to say anymore about this cos history speaks itself..but as far as Indian concern.. I think they are like that and they live with it..each and everyone in the world knows about Indians…they are the lowest and cheapest people in the world…and they talk about murali…go get a life you morons... THIS IS FOR YOU Partha Rajagopal