Quantcast

Unhurried Herath ambles into history

Left-arm spinner takes Test wicket number 300 some 17 years after his debut

On another forgettable day for the touring Sri Lankans, veteran spinner Rangana Herath could at least take a personal slice of history, reaching his 300th Test wicket in the middle session of the second Test in Durham.

It was far from Herath's finest outing with the ball – he finished with 1-116 from his 29 overs – but the wicket of tailender Steven Finn, caught and bowled, prompted a raising of the ball to acknowledge a rare achievement.

Quick Single: England quicks rip through Sri Lanka

In removing Finn, Herath became the 30th player to reach the milestone, the third Sri Lankan, and at 38 and 70 days, the second-oldest after West Indies legend Lance Gibbs, who was 41 when he took his 300th wicket, around a month before breaking Fred Trueman's world record mark of 307 in January 1976.

For Herath, an uncomplicated but unerringly accurate left-arm orthodox spinner, it has been quite the journey.

The rather rotund Sri Lankan made his Test debut in 1999 but his career stalled courtesy of the phenomenon that was Muthiah Muralidaran; the freakish off-spinner ran through side for fun in the opening decade of the 21st century and, consequently, Herath was forced to bide his time.

Murali's retirement in July 2008 saw the quietly-spoken spinner take centre stage, and 47 of his 69 Tests have come since.

Quick Single: Mature Moeen making his mark for England

In that phase of his career, 229 wickets have come at 27, including 14 in one match against Pakistan, a five-wicket haul against Australia in Hobart, and arguably best of all, a nine-wicket effort that ensured Sri Lanka won their first-ever Test in South Africa.

In April, Herath announced his retirement from limited-overs internationals, with the express intention of prolonging his Test career.  

"Every cricketer has to stop at the right time," he said in a letter to Sri Lanka cricket. "I feel it's time to make room for fresh talent to be groomed with the 2019 World Cup in view."

Around the same time, he revealed to Wisden India that the secret to his success was his simplicity.

"Wherever I go, I try not to change anything," he said. "I give the ball air and try to get the batsmen out.

"I figure out the conditions … I have faith in me that I can adjust with the conditions."

Quick Single: In the footsteps of Bradman

While Sri Lanka will need a miracle to extricate themselves from the dire position in which they find themselves on this tour of England, the spinner's true value will likely come to the fore in their home three-match series against Australia in July-August; in two Tests against the men in Baggy Green in Sri Lanka, he's collected 16 wickets.

Doubtless he'll relish the home conditions, and the opportunity to add to a wonderful record that has been almost 17 years in the making. 

Image Id: ~/media/8A69E289C1A44F93BF0D428F74A32B20