MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Muttiah Muralitharan will be spurred on to success if Australian crowds barrack him over his controversial bowling action, the Sri Lankan spinner's manager said.

The 35-year-old off-spinner is eight wickets short of Shane Warne's world Test record of 708 scalps, and looks likely to pass the mark when Sri Lanka face Australia in Tests in Brisbane and Hobart in November. But Murali said he was relishing the prospect of breaking the record on Warne's home turf in Australia, where he has twice before been called for throwing.

"He is comfortable with what Australia is like," Muralitharan's manager Kushil Gunasekera was quoted as saying in Melbourne's Herald Sun newspaper yesterday.

"He understands the harassment given by spectators will only make him more inspired and motivated. It will help him bowl better.

"He is happy to be taking on that challenge because Australia is a real test. He will come to Australia."

Muralitharan was first called for no-balling by umpire Darrell Hair in the 1995-96 Boxing Day test match at Melbourne and was again called on another tour of Australia three years later.

He was also called for throwing by match referee Chris Broad after taking 28 wickets in a three-Test series on home soil against the Australians in 2004.

He later that year skipped the tour of Australia after Prime Minister John Howard apparently agreed with a reporter's comment that Muralitharan was a "chucker".

Muralitharan has not played before at either venue for the two-Test series. The first Test starts at the Gabba on November 8 with the second at the Bellerive Oval starting on November 16.