Muller breaks silence over “can't bowl” jibe

Scott Muller has spoken publicly for the first time in six years about the "can't bowl, can't throw" incident that over-shadowed his two-Test career. Muller, the former Queensland fast bowler, took seven wickets during Australia's record-breaking 16-match streak but was part of a mysterious and long-running controversy after the damaging comments were heard on national television.

Shane Warne, who has denied any part in the episode, was one suspect after Muller delivered a wild throw in the second Test against Pakistan in 1999-2000, but the Nine cameraman Joe Previtera, who still works for the network, claimed responsibility for the sentence heard through the stump microphone. "Because of what's happened I'm always hesitant to talk," Muller told the magazine Inside Cricket, which interviewed every Australian player since 1995 for its Decade of Champions issue. "I've had a dozen people ring me on this, trying to take it further, but I'm past that. There's a certain umpire out there who knows what really happened."

The on-field officials during the second Test at Hobart, where Australia chased a massive 369 for victory with centuries to Adam Gilchrist and Justin Langer, were Peter Parker, from Queensland, and England's Peter Willey. Muller, who is currently coaching with Beenleigh-Logan in the Brisbane club competition, said his only Test regret was he "wasn't at his peak when it counted".

"I'm certainly not the first bloke in history to say that," he told the magazine. "Maybe I had what people call green and gold fever. Or maybe I kicked back and relaxed a little bit. But at the end of the day I was picked to take wickets and got seven in two Tests ... so I suppose it all comes down to how you look at it."