Player Name | Team | Mat | Wickets | Best | 5w | 10w | Period | |
1 | Muttiah Muralitharan | SL | 133 | 800 | 9-51 | 66 | 22 | 1992-2010 |
When the old bluffer himself speaks it is time to listen. Shane Warne, who spent an entire career tormenting England by suggesting what he would do to them on behalf of Australia and then doing it, has been talking up their chances in this winter's Ashes series.
Australia struggled to tea on one of its darkest days in Test cricket in living memory, on day one of the second match against Pakistan at Headingley.
Firstly, the Aussies were humiliated with the bat by being rolled for 88 in Leeds - the national side's worst Test total in a generation.
Then new Pakistan captain Salman Butt (38 not out) climbed into the shell-shocked Australian attack as his side marched to 0 for 64 at tea with opener Imran Farhat (20) also unbeaten.
The day was threatening to become even more disastrous than the opening day of the 1997 Ashes series at Edgbaston when Australia was dismissed for 118 with England reaching 3 for 200 by stumps.
The brilliant Pakistan swing bowling trio of Mohammad Aamer (3 for 20), Mohammad Asif (2 for 33) and Umar Gul (2 for 16) earlier used the overcast conditions to perfection, producing wicked late swing to skittle Australia in 33.1 overs.
The last time Australia posted a lower score was back in 1984, the tally of 76 coming against a rampant West Indian attack consisting of Joel Garner, Malcolm Marshall and Michael Holding on a lightning-fast WACA pitch.
It was Australia's fifth batting collapse in six Tests on English soil and the performance provided further evidence of the side's inability to cope with the swinging ball in this country.
Australia's performance also mirrored England's capitulation on the opening day of the fourth Ashes Test at this very ground last year.
Australia had come into the match with a 1-0 series lead in the two-match series and in pursuit of a record 14th straight Test win over Pakistan.
Since his fateful decision to send England in at Edgbaston in 2005, Ponting has batted first in the past 27 times that he has won the toss.
But from the outset on Wednesday, this looked like a decision he could come to regret in Leeds.
Pakistan's bowlers brilliantly exploited the swing-friendly conditions as Australia lost all 10 wickets for 68 runs following an opening stand of 20.
Left-arm paceman Aamer got the ball rolling by pinning opener Simon Katich (13) in front before Asif dismissed Shane Watson (5) eight balls later.
Gul stepped up the carnage by knocking back Michael Clarke's (3) middle stump and Asif showed that Ponting's (6) brilliant record at the ground meant little on Wednesday.
Even the normally reliable Mike Hussey (5) could not stem the flow of wickets with Gul adjudged to have trapped him in front, even if the ball might have slipped down the leg side.
Marcus North (16) looked like he was guiding Australia to lunch but medium-pacer Umar Amin had him caught behind just before the interval.
Aamer was inspired after the break, knocking over the stumps of Steve Smith (10) and Mitchell Johnson (0) with his first two balls after lunch.
He producing an excellent inswinger to Smith and followed that up with an even better delivery to Johnson that swung late and tilted back his off-stump.
Ben Hilfenhaus (3) somehow negotiated the hat-trick delivery, the tailender not good enough to get an edge on the ball as it screamed past his bat.
Hilfenhaus pushed Australia beyond its lowest Test total against Pakistan of 80 in Karachi in 1956 with a straight drive off Aamer.
But in a sign of the batting side's dirty day, he was run out going for a third soon afterwards.
Tim Paine (17) was the last man to go, trying to improvise a shot with number 11 Doug Bollinger (2 not out) at the other end.
Australian spin wizard Shane Warne feels that his greatest rival Muttiah Muralitharan's world record of almost 800 Test wickets will never be beaten.
Warne retired with 708 Test wickets and Murali, with 792 and one more match against India, has a chance to finish with 800 wickets.
Warne also felt that Muralitharan was never a chucker.
It looked like a Test match that would attract only cursory interest in a calendar so bogged down with international fixtures.
With Pakistan desperate to level the series against Australia they are toying with the idea of recalling offspinner Saeed Ajmal in place of Danish Kaneria for the second Test at Headingley. Though the news has not been confirmed sources have indicated that Ajmal's doosra could swing selection in his favour in order to target Australia's left-handers.
Former Pakistan captain Mohammad Yousuf is ready to come out of retirement sooner rather than later, further broadening the possibility of an appearance at some point for Pakistan in the summer.
© CRICKET UPDATE Published by Masudur Rahman 2010
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