Praising Sri Lanka's mystery bowler Ajantha Mendis's showing against the star-studded Indian batting line-up in the just concluded three-Test series, former Australia coach John Buchanan says the youngster should be judged on a long-term basis.
"Mendis reminds me a bit of Johnny Gleeson, though he releases the ball much quicker, is taller and stronger. He also has good change of pace," he told newspersons in Mumbai on Tuesday.
Buchanan is in the city to conduct a two-day selection trial for Indian Premier League franchise Kolkata Knight Riders, of which he is chief coach.
The Australian said he can't say for sure why Mendis succeeded against the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and V V S Laxman, the `Fab Four' of the Indian middle order batting, who were not unduly bothered by a genius like Shane Warne in his and their prime.
"I don't know the reason [why they failed against Mendis]. As far as Warne was concerned, over a period of time people read him more. But Warne's ability stood the test of time like any great batsman or bowler. It's a testing time for him (Mendis). His action has not been studied in detail [by opposing batsmen], not been exposed enough."
The 26-year-old Mendis, who played one match for the Kolkata franchise in the IPL, grabbed a record 26 wickets in his debut three-Test series. More importantly, he did not allow the Indian middle order to rake up big scores, as a result of which Tendulkar and Ganguly failed to aggregate three figures from the whole series.
Dravid (148 runs) was a bit more successful while Laxman amassed the most among the four -- 215 runs at 43 per innings -- but, on the whole, Mendis mesmerised the middle order and contributed hugely to Sri Lanka's 2-1 series success.
In contrast, Warne -- named among Wisden's top five cricketers of the 20th century -- could ensnare only 43 wickets in 14 Tests against India during a 13-year period, a drop in the ocean when compared to his 708 wickets in 145 Tests.
Buchanan did not want to dwell much on the ball tampering controversy that has reared its head in cricket again following former England Test batsman Marcus Trescothick's recent admission that his team tampered with the ball using breath fresheners during their upset 2005 Ashes series win over a Buchanan-coached Australia.
"I will leave others to chew over it," were his terse comments when broached on the raging controversy.
Trescothick has admitted in his new autobiography Coming Back To Me that his chief job in the field was to shine the ball with the assistance of breath fresheners.
The ex-England opener had claimed that his on-field action enabled leading English new ball bowlers Andrew Flintoff and Simon Jones to gain reverse swing and flummox the strong Aussie batting line-up in the rubber, which England won 2-1 to regain the Ashes after 18 years.
Talking about the IPL, Buchanan, who famously, after quitting his job with the Australian team had said that people from his country should be allowed to represent other countries in order to level the playing field, reiterated that the format has given cricket a whole new dimension.
"It has changed cricket in that it has brought together players from different cultures into the same team like professional football," he said, adding if the IPL authorities could follow the Australian Rules Football's draft system in future then the League could become more competitive.
"Under the Australian Rules Football system the bottom-placed teams have the first pick on new players. This has made it more competitive."
In Mumbai, Buchanan will take a close look at 100 players, mainly in the under-19 and under-22 age groups, and select anyone promising for the Kolkata Knight Riders, which will tour Australia soon.
"I may not pick anyone or may choose twenty," was all he said about his mission.
The franchise, owned by Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan, is set to go to Delhi and Kolkata in the next few weeks to undertake similar talent-spotting programmes, according to its CEO Joy Bhattacharya.
