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| Saturday, 3 July 2004 |
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Murali's doosra under wraps by Elmo Rodrigopulle Muttiah Muralitheran, the leading wicket taker in Test cricket will have to keep his doosra under wraps for who knows when. Information trickling down from the ICC meetings held in London has it that Sri Lanka Cricket delegation's efforts to get the ban of the doosra lifted has been bowled out. The decision of the ICC Exco means that Muralitheran would have to forget the one that goes the other way (doosra) and concentrate on his repertoire of other deliveries when bowling again. When match referee during the Aussie-Sri Lanka Test series Chris Broad reported the bowler, especially the doosra saying it was suspect the way he delivered it, all hell broke loose with the authorities being unsettled. Broad who was only doing his job was torn apart unnecessarily. Allegations were levelled against him. But after the testing of the bowler's doosra, it was found that he was not delivering clean. To put it simply it was this. On a highway if the driving speed limit was 60mph, our man was going at 90 mph. Then it was apparent that rules had been flouted. Then instead of bashing the ICC and threatening them, what the authorities here should have done was to have gone soft on the matter, explaining the position that the bowler was placed in, and asking them to find a solution that would be acceptable to all. The ICC when they learnt that the doosra was delivered with a illegal action, did not hesitate to inform Sri Lanka Cricket to tell the bowler that the doosra has been banned and that he should not bowl it again. The doosra was not a new delivery to Muralitheran. But when he made a big hue and cry saying that he has mastered a mystery delivery, it made the cricket world inquisitive to know what this mystery delivery was. That is where Muralitheran erred. Had he bowled it without boast, he would still have been bowling it and baffling opposing batsmen and adding to his tally of wickets. The SLC delegation to the ICC meeting went with great expectations. But now that their efforts have been spun out, what next and how are they going to get the ICC to allow the bowler to continue bowling his doosra would be their dilemma. As for us Muralitheran would do well to concentrate on his vicious off spinner that got him most of his wickets and drop the doosra, that finally went to prove his undoing. The ICC is not going to stretch the rule to accommodate Muralitheran. They will see that their rules are adhered to who or however important the bowler or the country. |
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