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| Thursday, 1 April 2004 |
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Murali's crown of thorns by Dr. Quintus de Zylva As the world celebrated the 500 test wicket achievement of both Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralidharan in Sri Lanka, it came as no surprise to cricket lovers the world over, that the kings of spin might be crowned with a somewhat different regalia. Murali's achievement is just as creditable as Warnie's and the homage paid to these magnificent men with their spinning fingers has been just what the world was waiting for. But with his achievement, Murali is now faced with having to justify his action once again. And to think that, according to Murali, he has bowled this same ball with the same action for six years, makes one wonder why this has become necessary at this point in his career. Surely, the fact that commentators and journalists think that he might have a new "weapon of mass destruction" does not justify a wild goose chase. The Bush-Blair illusion that Sadam had these W.M.D's has been shot to pieces by their own Bilk and Richard Clarke (former U.S. counter-terror chief). A similar fate could well await this belated call for a re-examination of his action. One does hope that Board has seen all the previous reports that have examined Murali's action in several parts of the world. After all, it has been stated clearly by Gait and Movement Laboratories, after two-dimensional video analysis and three dimensional kinematics of his shoulder, elbow and wrist, CAPTURED DURING BOWLING IN A VARIETY OF ACTIONS, that Murali does not straighten his elbow during delivery but that the human eye, due to a parallax error might, make his action look suspicious - AN OPTICAL ILLUSION. Cricket has progressed far enough to have third umpires give opinions by viewing slow motion replays from different angles - science has provided the definitive result where the human binocular vision has been in doubt. Murali has been through all this before and scientific analysis from every known angle and at every known speed, has shown his action is not illegal - it is just different. How boring cricket would be if every bowler had the same action. Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson provided a double delight when they were at the helm of Australian cricket - how different in action was Dennis Lillee from Jeff Thomson? Cricket lovers the world over were treated to unadulterated pace by both of them - and Lillee's action was so different to that of Thommo's. His sling action provided a different visual treat to all those fortunate enough to have seen them both perform. John Arlott when he first saw Thommo bowling in England said that had he grown up in the British Empire, his action would have been changed in his youth, by the so-called 'experts' from the cradle in which cricket was born. What a tragedy that would have been if Australia was allowed to churn out the same fast bowlers with the same action! Kamran Abbassi - deputy editor of the British Medical Journal- has said that one of the flaws in this cricket debacle is in defining NORMALITY. Shoaib Akthar's hyper-extensible joints and wide carrying angle at the elbow, and Murali's fixed flexion deformity of the elbow, make both of them "unusual human beings" but none the less human. What a tragedy it would be if we were deprived of the enjoyment and adoration of these "two most exciting and destructive bowlers on the planet" because they were born to be different. The law in this century does not allow anyone to be discriminated against because he was born different. What again we ask is "Normality"? Bishen Bedi, Bobby Simpson and the likes of Emerson and Egar are voices from the past who have failed to move on from the times when only visual impressions called the tune. Cricket fortunately has moved on and we can now rely on an exact measurement of the line of the stumps to tell us whether the ball was pitched on line or not. A third umpire can even be consulted to tell us whether a ball went over the boundary line or not. These aids have helped cricket become a more scientific discipline and leave behind cricket and its prejudices that was played in the dark ages. Tony Greig was quick to point out that Murali was called in Brisbane by the Terry McQuillan/Ross Emerson combo even when he bowled a leg spinner from the back of his hand. So much for preconceived bias. To quote Kamran Abbassi again - "Cricket in this new century is a naked game, it's sins laid bare .. the throwing issue remains fuelled by unspoken prejudices and inexcusable ignorance". What then of Murali and his cricketing future? Adam Gilchrist has said that he must continue playing and not give up - a change in attitude from his ill conceived comments at a footy club luncheon in Melbourne that saw him rapped across the knuckles by the ACB. The Australian Cricketers are now a more mature bunch who refrain from making any comment on aspects of cricket that do not concern them. Ricky Ponting showed this when he was specifically questioned about Murali. Bob Merriman and Denis Rogers are to be congratulated in having resurrected the courtesy and gentlemanliness that cricket was famous for. Murali must carry on regardless of the piranhas that bite at his ankles when he climbs every mountain. His action has been scientifically classed as legitimate and he must continue to thrill all honest cricket followers with his smile and endearing affect. He and Shane Warne were gracious enough to assist even the Blind Foundation in Sri Lanka - to discriminate against anyone born to be different would be against their conscience. Cricket should be broad enough to accomodate all forms of normality. Zimbabwe here we come and then perhaps Courtney Walsh and his magical 519 wickets will only be a long past statistic. Cricket must move on and leave the stragglers behind. |
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