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Ranatunga blasts Aussie crowds

Sri Lankan cricket captain Arjuna Ranatunga said he had no regrets about his conduct when off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan was called for throwing by umpire Ross Emerson during the current one-day triangular series in Australia. Ranatunga has been handed a suspended six-match ban by the International Cricket Council for leading his team off the ground temporarily.

"When I see the video playback , I might have thought I should have acted in a different way. [But] it's done now. Whether I like it or not, it is finished, I can't do anything about it," he told The Island on his return to Colombo.

Asked whether he lost his cool when Muralitharan was no-balled, Ranatunga, who has been dubbed 'Captain Cool' by the media for his astute leadership of the team, said, "I don't think I lost my cool. I stood by one of my players. It's as simple as that. Losing cool and acting differently are two different things. We should not mix these two."

The Sri Lankan captain lambasted the Australian crowds for what he described as uncivilised behaviour. He said the conduct of the crowds in the Indian subcontinent was a thousand times better. "Those living in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. Australia and England, whenever they tour the Indian subcontinent, complain about unruly crowd behaviour there. But they can't see the behaviour of their own crowds. I must say the conduct of Indian and Pakistan crowds is thousand times better."

Ranatunga said the way the crowd treated a bowler who has taken more than 200 Test wickets was disgusting. He was referring to constant chants of "No-ball" whenever Muralitharan came on to bowl.

But Ranatunga opposed any move by Sri Lankan crowds to return the compliment when the Australians tour the island later this year. "We should show them what our culture is, what sort of people we are. Just because a dog bites a man, the man should not bite the dog," he said.

Ranatunga, who was the target of virulent criticism by the Australian media, said this was not a new thing for him. "It's happening here too. It's happening there as well. It's not a big issue for me. If we go to read everything and take notice of what is written, I don't think we would have played the game for such a long time," he said.

But he has second thoughts about touring Australia to play cricket in future. "I don't think I will go back to Australia to play cricket anyway. I don't want to lose a couple of years of my life," he joked.

UNI