'Murali an outstanding servant to cricket' - Warne

I think Murali has got to the stage where that hunger and enjoyment has started to wane a bit, the body sometimes tells you it's time to give up. But he's been an outstanding servant to the game of cricket, and what he's been able to achieve for Sri Lanka has been a real credit to his country and to himself.

He's always had a smile on his face, even when he's had to live through the doubters, because there will always be those people who say 'did he, didn't he?' All those sorts of things will remain, but he's handled himself extremely well, and congratulations to him. Now that he's retired, I might have to come out of retirement, just to try to beat his record again.

When you're an international cricketer and you play for a long time, there are always going to be things that come up that you're going to have to deal with. I suppose in Murali's case, he had such an unusual action that there's always going to be that doubt with some people, others have no doubts. But that's always been the case with Murali and it's just a fact of life. If he had a normal action he wouldn't have been talked about - that only happens when you're different. People will make their own mind up, but I thought he was wonderful for the game.

Of course I regard him as a friend. I've known him a long while and our rivalry was always healthy. If you look at the great batsmen in world cricket, some people say Sachin Tendulkar's the best, like I do, and some people say Brian Lara. Myself and Murali were like that at the top as bowlers in the last 10 years. All the opinions are really up to the individual.

Statistics are great to have, but I think it's also about the way you got your wickets. Did they help you to win the match for your team? Were you entertaining? All those things go into the mix when you are making a decision. It's like anything, you collect information, and try to make an informed decision, but for me he was great for the game and always fun to face.

I suppose we went through the 1980s with the dominance of the fast bowlers, then along came myself and Anil Kumble, and Murali, and Saqlain Mushtaq, and Mushtaq Ahmed. There were half a dozen spinners in that mid-1990s period when you knew that whoever you were facing, you were going to be tested by a decent spinner, if not two. It was skilful bowling that asked a lot of questions of the batters, but I suppose we might see it go the other way now, and have more fast bowlers because these things always go in cycles.

But some of the current day spinners are doing exceptionally well. Graeme Swann is probably the most improved cricketer in the world, he's come on a lot, and I really think he'll help England. He's that extra little bow that England needed, their spinner can bowl on day one or day five, he's got a bit of flair and he's adaptable. I like the way he goes about it.