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Former New Zealand captain Martin Crowe is defending himself against another attack from Sri Lankan interests, this time from his old adversary Arjuna Ranatunga.
Crowe, who queried the legality of Muttiah Muralitharan's wrong-'un during the second test in Wellington and sent film footage to the International Cricket Council unprompted, insists he did so - not out of spite - but for the greater good of the game.
"I wasn't being nasty or malicious. I've got a lot of respect for Sri Lankan cricket and I love the way they play the game," he said last night.
"I can understand Arjuna wanting to protect Murali and Sri Lanka's chance of success at the next World Cup but, from an independent viewpoint, I think the issue deserves to be discussed."
Crowe reiterated yesterday that he was startled only by Murali's doosra, or wrong-'un, and particularly the action employed on the first evening and the second morning of the second test.
The footage sent by Crowe will evidently be used by the ICC in a split-screen format to compare Murali's action during the Wellington test with the action he employed under laboratory testing.
Ranatunga yesterday questioned why Crowe didn't raise the matter in Christchurch when New Zealand were winning, instead of bringing it up when the home side were suffering a heavy defeat at Wellington.
"You don't wait till your team loses and then make a big hue and cry about it," said the former test captain.
"I had a lot of respect for Crowe as a player and as a gentleman. But I've got to say that I've lost that respect.
"He sounds more like an Australian now."
Ranatunga suggested hypocrisy and racism were behind the criticisms about his countryman's action.
"I feel sorry for Murali," he said. "He's got to put up with this kind of crap whenever he comes up with a good performance.
"If he'd been playing for Australia, New Zealand or England they would have hailed him as the greatest bowler ever to play the game.
"He would have been known as the genius who overcame deformity and became a star. But simply because he's an Asian, he's got to go through this."
