Every bowler's dream is to get the maiden wicket at the earliest: Lasith Malinga

As the 4th Test of the Ashes rolls on, with Australia already having got an unassailable lead in the series, England are trying their best to avoid a whitewash. On the first day of the match, Tom Curran missed out on his maiden Test wicket when he failed to pick up David Warner who was batting on 99 then. Curran had bowled a no-ball which did not allow it to be a wicket and Warner eventually went on to score a century. He was later dismissed by James Anderson.

Speaking on this, Sri Lankan bowler Lasith Malinga said that it is surely a dream for a bowler to get his maiden Test wicket as early as possible. If the bowler gets his maiden wicket off a no-ball, that would be a disappointing start to the bowler’s career.

“Every bowler’s dream is to get the maiden wicket at the earliest but when he gets the wicket and if the umpire calls it a no ball, he gets very very disappointed and the same was the case with me”, Lasith Malinga said exclusively to Kashmir Times.

The same was the case with Malinga

Malinga himself went through this while bowling against Australia back in 2004. He said that when a bowler loses the wicket off a no-ball, he becomes more alert and focuses on his bowling. This eventually compels the batsman to commit a mistake and the bowler can grab the opportunity. It comes as a learning experience for the bowler, which inspires him to work harder. The bowler should not be heartbroken and any maiden wicket is precious.

“The bowler, however, has the opportunity to grab the maiden wicket in the same innings (or the same Test match) and that will make him to work harder. If his maiden wicket is missed of a no bowler, he becomes more alert and then he tries to bowl better deliveries and the batsman is liable to commit mistake and loses his wicket early”, added Malinga.

“Missing wicket of a no ball is a good learning experience for the bowler. The bowler should not be disappointed for this reason. Any maiden wicket of a batsman, who has either scored a century or a double century is the prize wicket”, Malinga concluded.

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