Sri Lanka may walk again over "throw" call

“Most probably it will be a repeat of the same episode,” he said in an interview last night just before leaving for Australia to meet the team management. Australian umpire Ross Emerson called Muralitharan for throwing on Saturday in a match against England in Adelaide. The Sri Lankan captain lead his players off the field in protest.

“The captain and the players believe he (Muralitharan) has a legitimate action and Emerson is of the view that he is throwing every now and then,” said Sumathipala when asked what steps the team would take if Muralitharan was no-balled again.

Emerson is scheduled to stand in Sri Lanka’s match against England at Perth this week.Sri Lankan skipper Arjuna Ranatunga is to face an International Cricket Council (ICC) code of conduct hearing after Saturday’s protest.

Ranatunga’s hearing was originally to have opened today but was postponed a day after a request from the Sri Lankan team, which wanted extra time to prepare its defence.

Sri Lankan cricket officials said Sumathipala would look into securing the best legal support for Ranatunga if he was charged with violating the ICC’s code of conduct.

The hearing would be held before the triangular series match referee, South African Peter Van Der Merwe, who came onto the field on Saturday.

“The umpire called within the laws of cricket, so we don’t have any question about calling. But there are various other aspects to it,” Sumathipala said, adding the board would have further discussions with ICC.

He said Sri Lanka’s Cricket Board had separate talks with its Australian counterpart five months ago on the need for independent umpires to avert a controversial situation.

“Butthis has happened again,” he said. “The ICC has cleared Muralitharan, but the umpires are not willing to accept that decision. There is some ambiguity in the laws of cricket.”