Ranatunga unwilling to retire hurt

LONDON, May 15: Sri Lankan cricket captain Arjuna Ranatunga, responding to Shane Warne's slur that he should retire for the good of the s...

LONDON, May 15: Sri Lankan cricket captain Arjuna Ranatunga, responding to Shane Warne’s slur that he should retire for the good of the sport, hit back here yesterday with remarks which appeared to dismiss both Warne and Australian culture.

Ranatunga, speaking after the reigning champions had lost the opening match of the World Cup to England, said: "I’m not really worried what they say. It shows more about Shane Warne and Australian culture rather than about me and our culture. We have a culture that is 2,500 years old I think we all know where they (Australians) come from."

Ranatunga, regarded as one of the shrewdest captains in the world, once said he thought Warne was over-rated. Yesterday he added: "I’ve done more things than he has done."

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Earlier Warne, writing in The Times daily newspaper, said: "Ranatunga might be a shrewd, experienced leader, but his batting is not what it was and he is terrible in the field. Frankly, Sri Lanka and the game overall would be better off withouthim."

Warne, regarded as the leading bowler in the world, added: "Yes, there is plenty of animosity between Ranatunga and myself. I don’t like him and I’m not in a club of one."

Sri Lankan manager Duleep Mendis said there would be no official complaint to the International Cricket Council, the sport’s governing body, about Warne’s remarks.

There has been bad blood between the Australians and the Sri Lankans since 1995, when off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan was called for throwing while playing in Australia.

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He was called again there last year, sparking a new uproar. A furious Ranatunga had temporarily led his team off the pitch in protest which earned him a six-match suspended ban.

The Australians have also not forgotten that they were branded "cowards" by a leading Sri Lankan politician in 1996 for refusing to play a World Cup match in Colombo after the death of 90 people in a city-centre bombing carried out by LTTE rebels.

Warne said the rest of the Sri Lankan team were "a good bunch ofblokes".He conceded the Australians were themselves not always popular for playing a hard brand of cricket which included "sledging" — comments made by fielders to opposing batsmen to try and unnerve them.

But he argued: "We play hard, but we always play in the spirit of the game. Sri Lanka, on occasions, do not." Australia and Sri Lanka are in different preliminary groups in the World Cup and will only meet if both reach the second round of the tournament.

ACB censures Warne

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SYDNEY: Warne has been reprimanded by the Australian Cricket Board following his stinging attack on Ranatunga in The Times.

A spokesman for the ACB said Warne had been contacted about the column. He said the inflammatory nature of the article had been discussed but Warne would be allowed to continue writing for the paper.

ICC to look into matter

WORCESTER: Warne has been charged with breaking the International Cricket Council’s code of conduct after making controversial remarks against Ranatunga.

ICCchief executive David Richards said the matter would be dealt with by a tournament referee at a hearing Saturday in Worcester.