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Home / Sport

<i>Terry Maddaford:</i> ICC's ban on dodgy 'doosra' too late

14 May, 2004 09:33 AM3 mins to read

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COMMENT

The International Cricket Council, no stranger to being tagged "toothless", must step in and sort out the Muttiah Muralitharan affair before it becomes an even bigger joke.

Its belated slamming of the door on the now infamous "doosra" delivery is laughable.

ICC bosses waited until after the 32-year-old Sri Lankan spinner had
broken Courtney Walsh's record of 519 test wickets before stepping in and banning the delivery.

This week, the ICC finally said "no more", claiming the controversial delivery - an off-spinner which turns away from rather than into a right-handed batsman - violates its regulations.

He has been banned from using the delivery in Sri Lanka's second test against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo, which started overnight.

Why the delay?

That ruling should have come as soon as the ICC received a report from the biomechanics expert who confirmed the illegality of the delivery.

The ICC was told Muralitharan's arm extended by 10 degrees when bowling the doosra - double the ICC's legal limit.

The tests were called for after match referee Chris Broad reported the Sri Lankans' off-spinner during their series in Australia this year.

At the time, the ICC confirmed it would not relax its five-degree "level of tolerance".

So why then did it not step in before the first test in Harare?

With no such directive, Sri Lanka, with Muralitharan bagging eight wickets, beat a weakened Zimbabwe side by an innings and 240 runs - the biggest winning margin in their 22-year test history.

When Muralitharan had Mluleki Nkala caught by Mahela Jayawardene for 24 in Zimbabwe's second innings, Walsh's name was gone from the record books.

Had the ICC stepped in long ago, Walsh, surely and deservedly, would still be No 1.

How many of Muralitharan's now 521 victims have fallen to dodgy deliveries?

This week, ICC boss Malcolm Speed reiterated that the controversial action was "well outside the ICC's specified levels of tolerance".

The ICC went on to insist Sri Lankan authorities "instruct Mr Muralitharan not to bowl the delivery".

Why the wait?

The result of testing at the University of Western Australia was known before the current series but it appears the ICC was happy to allow him to break Walsh's record before stepping in.

Muralitharan first came under scrutiny in 1995 when Australian umpire Darrell Hair - another one not averse to the odd bit of controversy during his time in the middle - called him for throwing.

Three years after his test debut, the Sri Lankan was first analysed by the ICC.

No action was taken at the time but the issue boiled over in a one-day match in Adelaide in the 1998-99 season when Sri Lankan captain Arjuna Ranatunga led his team off the field in protest after Muralitharan had been called by umpire Ross Emerson.

It was not the first time Australian Emerson had called the Sri Lankan. He first no-balled him in 1996.

After his retirement from the international scene - dumped after making that call in Adelaide - Emerson was unrepentant and was quoted in a newspaper under the heading "You're still a chucker" as saying umpires were afraid to call Muralitharan because of the backlash.

Muralitharan is a hero to Sri Lankans.

Understandably, they won't have a bar of any move to discredit or ban the player who, more than any other, has almost singlehandedly ensured the place their national sport enjoys on the international stage.

Beyond Australian shores, leg-spinner Shane Warne hardly enjoys universal acceptance, for any number of reasons, but many - other than Sri Lankans - would rather see "Warney" (now three behind "Murali") atop the wicket-taking list.

Perhaps the ICC doesn't share such sentiments.

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