Murali ready to dump ‘doosra’

Muttiah Muralitharan today hinted he will drop the controversial ‘doosra’ delivery from his armoury after it was deemed illegal by...

Muttiah Muralitharan today hinted he will drop the controversial ‘doosra’ delivery from his armoury after it was deemed illegal by the International Cricket Council (ICC).

“The ‘doosra’ has always been at the back of my mind,” Muralitharan was quoted as saying in the Colombo-based Daily News in perhaps his first public statement on the controversial delivery. “People have questioned me about it. I have done all the tests that are required and the reports have gone to the ICC.

“At the end of the day what matters is what the report, the expert, my cricket board and the ICC says.”

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Sri Lankan cricket authorities today confirmed they had asked the off-spinner not to bowl the ‘doosra’, a delivery which spins away from the right-handers instead of coming into them like a normal off-break.

“We have advised Muralitharan not to bowl the ‘doosra’. We had also informed the team manager before he played in Zimbabwe,” said a Sri Lanka cricket (SLC) official. The spinner, however, did bowl the ‘doosra’ in the opening Test against Zimbabwe at Harare where he took eight wickets to break retired West Indies fast bowler Courtney Walsh’s world record of 519 Test wickets.

Malcolm Speed’s Statement (excerpts)

The ICC supports the Sri Lankan Board’s decision to stop the bowler from bowling the ‘doosra’ as it exceeded the degree of tolerance allowed for a bowler. The report forwarded by Sri Lanka Cricket proves that the degree of straightening is well outside the ICC’s specified levels of tolerance. In light of this finding, Sri Lanka Cricket has now advised the ICC that it has instructed Muralitharan not to bowl this delivery in international cricket. The ICC supports this action.

If his action does not confirm to the laws of cricket, no second report can be made until this six week period is completed. This period expires at midnight on Thursday, May 13, 2004. Should the bowler go against the wishes of his board, bowl this delivery and subsequently be reported within 12 months of the initial report, the issue would progress to stage two of the ICC’s process for dealing with bowlers with suspected illegal bowling actions. This would result in this delivery being scrutinised by the ICC’s own bowling review group which has the power to impose a ban of 12 months on the bowler if his action is deemed illegal.