44,039 and out

As someone once said of someone else, nothing became him so much as the manner of his leaving. Murali's joy yesterday was, as it usually is, infectious. As a player and as a man he has overcome much.

The only question worth asking when considering his legacy is, was he good for the game? The only possible answer is yes, and more than that, his good stretched beyond the game. Even the vexed question of his shoulder revealed something about the nature of bowling and straight arms. Can anyone truthfully say that things would have been better without the demonic whirr of his off-spin?

So it was good to feel the joy in some of the writing about him. Here's Mike Selvey in the Guardian on why he'll never be overtaken [on that point, Selv finds himself in disagreement with Graeme Swann - wonder who Swanny thinks will do it...?], and a couple of terrific pieces on facing the man from opposing ends of the batting order, firstly from the last man to take a hundred from him, Viru Sehwag, and then from the tail-ender's tail-ender, former Notts spinner Andy Afford. Guess which one Murali didn't get out...