HONG KONG, Oct 28, 2007 (AFP) – Test cricket’s top wicket-taker Shane Warne said Sunday he will have no regrets when rival spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan overtakes him at the top of the charts.
Murali is currently on Sri Lanka’s tour of Australia and is just nine short of breaking Warne’s record 708 Test wickets.
“Good luck to Murali, the record doesn’t really worry me,” said Warne, who has retired from Test cricket but is in Hong Kong playing quickfire six-a-side cricket.
“It has been nice to hold the record for three or four years. I always played my style of cricket and the wickets were nice, but it is more about the spirit in which you play the game.
“I’d like to think I have been an entertainer in the 16 years or so I’ve been playing. I hope my legacy is that I’ve never given up, have always been competitive, and that people have enjoyed that. So the record is not the most important thing.”
“But,” Warne added, “hopefully the Aussie batsmen can still make it a little bit hard for him.”
Murali, 35, and Warne, 38, both started their Test careers in 1992, but the Sri Lankan has only played in 113 matches, compared with the Australian’s 145.
In a coup for the