KEY POINTS:
WELLINGTON - All roads were leading towards Muttiah Muralitharan last night after the New Zealand and Sri Lankan teams assembled in Wellington for the lead-up to the second test, starting on Friday.
The man who was run out in controversial circumstances during the opening test in Christchurch continues
to dominate discussions this week, both for his mindlessness while batting and his genius while bowling.
Yesterday it was the turn of the respective coaches to have their say on the head-shaking dismissal of Muralitharan, who was run out at a critical stage on Saturday after leaving his crease to congratulate Kumar Sangakarra on a century.
Sri Lankan coach and former Australian test player Tom Moody reiterated that the tourists were unhappy about the New Zealanders' actions.
"I echo what [Sri Lankan captain] Mahela Jayawardene had to say," said Moody. "The bottom line is that it's out according to the laws of the game but, having said that, it's nice that we recognise the spirit of the game as well.
"It's something that, as a group, we felt a little bit disappointed about - that the spirit wasn't taken into account.
"But it's time to move on and play some cricket."
Moody rejected suggestions that the incident might embolden the Sri Lankans, and fire them up ahead of the final test at the Basin Reserve.
His New Zealand counterpart, John Bracewell, was short and to the point when asked to comment on the run-out; the one-time hard-man of New Zealand cricket declared he was perfectly comfortable with the decision.
Bracewell also said he believed the fallout from the affair was having no affect on his players and he doubted whether it would cause any ill feeling or bad blood between the teams when the series resumed.
"I didn't have a problem with it," he said. "An out's an out. The ball was alive and we've moved on from it."
Possibly the bigger problem for Bracewell this week is trying to figure out a successful formula to counter Muralitharan's threat at the bowling crease, after his batsmen looked all at sea during the quick-fire test in Christchurch.
The outstanding off-spinner took three of the five New Zealand wickets to fall in the fourth innings, and the general agreement around the ground was that a further 50 runs to chase could have proved beyond the hosts.
Bracewell said his players had even recycled an old practice theory used by Ian Chappell at the Australian academy, whereby the batsmen would face spin bowling without wearing a pad on their front leg, in order to encourage a bigger commitment with the bat.
"It's just a mindset thing," he said. "It's a positive way of playing. You didn't often get hit on the leg as a kid playing in the backyard because the idea was to hit it.
"We've studied Murali. We've had guys sitting in behind him, looking at the angle of his elbow. But he's a smart cricketer and you've got to be constantly reassessing his strategy, because he keeps on changing it."
Bracewell said he'd also asked captain Stephen Fleming to explain exactly how he scored 274 and survived nearly 11 hours against a Murali-led attack in Colombo three years ago, despite the pitch turning square.
Murali's return of two for 140 off 58.5 overs was close to his career worst at home, thanks to Fleming's 476-ball epic.
"Flem reckoned he prospered because Murali was turning the ball so much," said Bracewell. "He said at times during that innings he played at the ball and missed it by a mile.
"But over here, Murali's only turning the ball enough to straighten it or to catch the edge.
"He's probably more dangerous on a good track than he is on a Bunsen - because he's committing you to play everything."
