KEY POINTS:
It was no accident that a giant portrait of Muttiah Muralitharan was unveiled at Lord's yesterday, to mark his becoming cricket's top test wicket taker.
The game's powerbrokers' preference for bending the law to match the bend in Muralitharan's right arm, rather than show the smiling Sri Lankan
the red card enabled him to become the world's leading test wicket taker.
He moved ahead of Shane Warne's 708 during England's first innings at Kandy and it's now merely a question of when, and at what number, he will call time.
Muralitharan shows no inclination to pack up his bags for good, and why would he?
Once upon a time the game's sheriffs would have booted him out of the game without a second thought. But now, as with so much of life, it's not so simple.
He's been inspected, poked, probed and cleared more than any other player, and has never been banned - unlike his great rival. Despite the inclination of the doubters to bellow in best dartspeak "onehunnerrrdaneightyyy!!" as he delivers each twirler he has had the last laugh.
No player has been subjected to more scrutiny than the little man from Kandy. When he retires he should donate his permanently bent right arm to science.
He is 35 years young and by the time he's done there's a fair chance he'll never be overtaken. Sri Lanka's test success is directly related to his achievements.
Since his test debut in 1992 against Australia in Colombo, his average per wicket is four runs better than Warne; he's overtaken the Australian in 29 fewer tests. He's taken five wickets in an innings 61 times; 10 in a match 20.
Aussies tend to sneer that Murali's numbers are bolstered by tests against Zimbabwe and Bangladesh; that's not Murali's fault. You play who your administrators put you up against. Look instead at Cricket Australia attitude to the game's bantamweights.
Look at his numbers against Australia, they mutter - 12 tests, 54 wickets - then again, Warne never had his figures bruised by having to bowl against Australia.
Even those with the gravest misgivings about what their eyes tell them like the man. Forget the slo-mo replays, the endless freeze-frame shots, the "optical illusion of throwing" and what the International Cricket Council calls "the angle between the longitudinal axis of the upper arm and forearm, in the sagittal plane".
So who might challenge whatever mark he eventually sets - and expect it to be in four figures.
Third on the list is India's ageless Anil Kumble with 576 wickets going into Pakistan's second innings in Calcutta late last night. He's 37, time ain't on his side.
Of the others still trundling in, South African Shaun Pollock has 416, but he's just about gone; ditto Murali's countryman Chaminda Vaas, with 322 wickets going into England's second innings in Kandy last night; and another South African, Makhaya Ntini, has 319. But he's 30, and more of his best years are behind him than in front.
No, if you're looking for someone to overhaul Murali look at a teenager, probably a spinner, and most likely someone you've never heard of. Slow bowlers last longer than all but the hardiest quick men.
So our man will need to deliver a ball no one has seen before. The doosra's a doozy but it'll be ho-hum before long.
Nine men have held the world record at 300 or more wickets. Several courted controversy, but none to match current holder. Many will go to the grave insisting his action and achievements the greatest blight on the game, deserving at least an asterisk in the records.
Get over it. Move on.
