No-ball controversy a distant memory for Murali

Muttiah Muralitharan has forgiven the umpire Darrell Hair and forgotten the no-ball call that threatened to derail his career. Murali was the victim at the 1995-96 Boxing Day Test but went on to take a record 800 Test wickets before retiring in July.

"I have forgiven [Hair] and forgotten," Murali told the Courier-Mail. "I had been very upset with him but I have let it go. I am not upset with him. People do make mistakes and I think he made a mistake. My action has been cleared. But I'm not going to look at the past any more."

Murali is back in Australia for a limited-overs series and his team-mates are excited to have him as they look to next year's World Cup. The campaign involves a Twenty20 international and three ODIs, and Murali knows what to expect from a small segment of local supporters.

"It has been a bit difficult here for me sometimes but mainly it has just been one or two people in the crowd saying some things," he said. "That is part of the game and as a sportsman you just have to accept that some people just don't like you.

"What I really didn't like was the comments [the former prime minister John] Howard made [in 2004]. That was why I didn't come on the next tour here. From someone in his position, that was worse than anything the crowd said." The incident was blamed as one of reasons Howard was not appointed as ICC vice-president in June.