Lasith Malinga - a good example to youngsters

[Nostromo]

People tend to appreciate the more obvious aspects of Lasith "the Slinga" Malinga - his unorthodox but very effective bowling action and his colourful character; but there is also a less obvious asset in the man which I believe will be a good example to upcoming cricketers - his ability to strike the right balance between aggression and sportsmanship.

Malinga obviously enjoys what he does so well but unlike some of his predecessors, does not exhibit any of the cheap cockiness that unfortunately used to very much part of Sri Lankan cricket in the bad old days of Ranatunga but has largely disappeared thanks to Jayawardene (and probably to Hashan Tillakaratne before him) and Moody. Watching the now famous "4-in-4" clip and other footage from this championship, I was impressed how Malinga - still only a young man at 23 - never went overboard with his celebrations. Watching him again last night in the semi-final, he made no attempt to sledge or mock Ross Taylor when the latter was struggling to get a sight of Malinga's sliders zipping past his bat; in fact the Sri Lankan lightened the atmosphere by an almost apolegetic smile, which was reciprocated by the batsman. Such byplays are good to watch - far better than some of the more heated imteractions that sometimes mar the modern game.

[b3au]

yeah he is an inspiration. did you know he only started bowling with a leather ball when he was 17. thats what i heard

[Speedboy Salesman]

Watching the 4 in 4, I was struck by the fact that Malinga reacted less to his hattrick, 4 wickets in 4 balls, than Brett Lee does when he takes 1! The way Brett Lee's going, he'll give himself a heart attack, before he's retired.

[Nostromo]

Originally Posted by Speedboy Salesman

Watching the 4 in 4, I was struck by the fact that Malinga reacted less to his hattrick, 4 wickets in 4 balls, than Brett Lee does when he takes 1! The way Brett Lee's going, he'll give himself a heart attack, before he's retired.

I think Lee is fine too. He is just exhuberant in his own way, but never sledges or taunts the opponents. Considering his superb fitness, I am sure that he is very long way from a heart attack!

[Andy Mellon]

Originally Posted by Nostromo

I think Lee is fine too. He is just exhuberant in his own way, but never sledges or taunts the opponents.

Can't agree with you there as he had plenty of words for the Indian batsmen in the last test if they played or missed. Maybe Lee is "a nice guy" when Australia are dominating the game, but as soon as the chips are down, he's got as sharp a tongue as any other quick bowler.

[acker]

Originally Posted by Andy Mellon

Can't agree with you there as he had plenty of words for the Indian batsmen in the last test if they played or missed. Maybe Lee is "a nice guy" when Australia are dominating the game, but as soon as the chips are down, he's got as sharp a tongue as any other quick bowler.

I dont think so, he sticks to whats in front of him like how they are reading him etc.

Mitchell Johnson gets a bit chirpy, much like Harbhajan does.

[Nostromo]

I have not come across any opposition batsman reacting as if to a sledge with Brett Lee. More than likely he says something humouros on the "how did that feel?" lines. One of the worst sledgers and bad sportsmen that I have ever seen was the on-off Oz pace bowler Damien Fleming. He was fairly obvious on TV with his badmouthing opponents for trivialities like boundaries off his bowling etc.