Gilchrist urges Muralitharan to tour Australia

Australia vice-captain Adam Gilchrist said on Saturday he hoped Sri Lanka bowler Muttiah Muralitharan would reconsider plans to skip his country's tour of Australia this year.

"That's a decision that he's got to make along with his support group," Gilchrist told a news conference in Brisbane following Australian press reports the bowler was reluctant to return to the country.

"But I'm sure the Australian team, the Australian Cricket Board (ACB) and the cricket fans here would love to see him out here again and he'd be most welcome," Gilchrist added.

"He's a very exciting cricketer and a great bloke and I'd be very disappointed and feel sorry if he didn't come."

Muralitharan, an off-spinner who has taken more than 400 Test wickets, was no-balled for throwing during previous tours of Australia.

The Sri Lankan was reported in Australian newspapers to be anxious to avoid another controversial visit to the country on the eve of the 2003 World Cup in South Africa.

Gilchrist himself thrust Muralitharan's name back in the headlines last month when he told an Australian Rules football pre-match luncheon in Melbourne that Muralitharan's bowling action was technically not within the rules of the game.

Sri Lanka are scheduled to play in a triangular one-day series against England and host nation Australia later this year. Sri Lanka are currently touring England and Muralitharan bowled for long periods during the second Test which the tourning side lost.

The ACB officially reprimanded Gilchrist for his comments on Muralitharan's action, which has been cleared by the International Cricket Council.

Australia will host a three-match one-day series against Pakistan starting on Wednesday in Melbourne. Both teams are in camp in Brisbane.

The first two matches of the series will be played indoors at Melbourne's Docklands Stadium on Wednesday and Saturday while the third game will be played in Brisbane on June 19.

"It's major part of our build-up," Gilchrist said on Saturday of the Pakistan series.

"We've got about 20 one-day games between now and the World Cup, give or take a few finals and the like, and so that's going to be the main event for us."

Mail Cricket Editor