SYDNEY, 21 April 2004 — Cricket should stop jumping on Sri Lankan spinner Muttiah Muralitharan and start learning from him, Australian coach John Buchanan said yesterday.
Muralitharan’s ‘doosra’ delivery, which spins away from the right-handers instead of coming into them like a normal off-break, has been deemed illegal under International Cricket Council (ICC) rules.
But Australian biomechanics experts reportedly say Murali should be allowed to keeping bowling the doosra until further research is conducted on the issue of throwing among slow bowlers.
Bruce Elliott, who led the biomechanics team which tested Muralitharan’s bowling action in Perth, wants the ICC to allow spinners to extend their arm by ten degrees instead of the current limit of five, which would make Muralitharan’s doosra legal.
Former Australian Test batsman Dean Jones strongly disagrees with Muralitharan being allowed to continue bowling.
“By my interpretation, I think he throws it,” Jones said yesterday.
“That’s nothing against him personally or nothing against Sri Lanka, but we’ve got to do something about it and do something quick.”
But Test coach Buchanan has a more lenient view on Murali’s bowling.
After closely watching Muralitharan bowling during Australia’s recent tour of Sri Lanka, Buchanan said he was an incredibly exciting bowler whose strong points should be used as a model to help revolutionize the art of spin bowling.
“My view on Murali is much the same as a lot of other people — I think the ICC made their decision on him some time ago,” said Buchanan, in reference to Muralitharan’s action being cleared in the past.
“Personally, with his new delivery, I’m not sure it’s significantly different to what he’s done before.
“I think we should look at Murali and look at what we can learn from him.
“Let’s look at how he uses his wrist and fingers to spin the ball the way he does instead of being so quick to jump on him.”
