Rangana Herath is middle-aged, not exactly thin, or tall, and upon seeing him for the first time, "athlete" would be the last vocation that springs to mind. He is not a huge turner of the ball either and for much of his early career was forced to play second fiddle to the great Muttiah Muralitharan. The left-arm spinner is currently the best bowler of his type in the game, and his 4/49 in Sri Lanka's just-concluded victory over Bangladesh makes him the most successful left-arm bowler in the history of Test cricket, with 415 wickets.
His success shows that cricket caters to all types. It accepts a variety of shapes and sizes; from rotund players like Rahkeem Cornwall and Colin Milburn to scrawny figures like Glenn McGrath, and from giants such as Mohammad Irfan and Morne Morkel to those less blessed vertically like Parthiv Patel and Gundappa Viswanath.
The short basketballer is an extreme rarity in the NBA, as is the frail American football player. The footballer (soccer player) who is particularly slow on his feet is unlikely to get far in a sport that is played at a rapid pace at its highest levels.
Cricket, on the other hand, allows for a variety of methods. It is the most democratic of sports. The same game that permits Virender Sehwag and David Warner's belligerence as Test batsmen, also accommodates the steadfastness of Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Geoff Boycott. Michael Holding, Jeff Thomson and Mitchell Johnson frightened batsmen with withering pace; Vernon Philander's pace is gentle by comparison, and yet he has proven himself to be as effective as the speed merchants.
Or consider that spin bowling greats Shane Warne and Muralitharan found success by spinning the ball a mile. However, almost equally successful was Anil Kumble, who was often accused of hardly getting his deliveries to defy the straight line.
His success shows that cricket caters to all types. It accepts a variety of shapes and sizes; from rotund players like Rahkeem Cornwall and Colin Milburn to scrawny figures like Glenn McGrath, and from giants such as Mohammad Irfan and Morne Morkel to those less blessed vertically like Parthiv Patel and Gundappa Viswanath.
The short basketballer is an extreme rarity in the NBA, as is the frail American football player. The footballer (soccer player) who is particularly slow on his feet is unlikely to get far in a sport that is played at a rapid pace at its highest levels.
Cricket, on the other hand, allows for a variety of methods. It is the most democratic of sports. The same game that permits Virender Sehwag and David Warner's belligerence as Test batsmen, also accommodates the steadfastness of Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Geoff Boycott. Michael Holding, Jeff Thomson and Mitchell Johnson frightened batsmen with withering pace; Vernon Philander's pace is gentle by comparison, and yet he has proven himself to be as effective as the speed merchants.
Or consider that spin bowling greats Shane Warne and Muralitharan found success by spinning the ball a mile. However, almost equally successful was Anil Kumble, who was often accused of hardly getting his deliveries to defy the straight line.
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