Lanka ignores Hair, selects Murali
for tour of Australia
The stage has been set for a repeat of the confrontation between Sri Lankan match-winner Muthiah Muralitharan and Australian Test umpire Darrell Hair that had thrown the cricket world into a tizzy in 1995.
Disregarding Hair's threat to question Muralitharan's bowling action once again, Sri Lankan cricket officials have included the star off-spinner in a fifteen-member squad that will tour Australia from January 1 to February 16, 1999.
"As far as we are concerned, the matter over Muralitharan's bowling action has been resolved for good," Thilanga Sumathipala, president of the Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka, said.
Reports from Australia earlier this month said Hair had threatened to call Muralitharan for throwing if he "did not sort out" his bowling action before the tour.
Muralitharan was first called for throwing by Ross Emerson, another Australian umpire, during a tour of that country in 1995.
Hair then called Muralitharan for throwing seven times during a three-over spell in the second Test on the same tour. The matter then went up to the International Cricket Council.
Muralitharan suffers from a birth deformity in his right arm that cannot be set right. To overcome the problem, he uses an unusual double-jointed wrist action.
The spinner underwent bio-mechanical tests in Hong Kong and Australia that cleared him.
Three Australian cricket specialists, Daryl Foster, David Lloyd, and Angus Burnett of the University of Western Australia, viewed films of 24 deliveries from six angles shot at 200 frames a second.
"It is clear that this apparent straightening of the bowling arm is a visual illusion,'' the team said in its report.
Following this, the ICC cleared Muralitharan.
The 26-year-old bowler was unavailable for comment on his inclusion in the team, which will also take part in a triangular tournament featuring England.
After Muralitharan had demolished England's batting in the recent one-off Test in London, English coach David Lloyd had said he suspects Muralitharan's action. It opened old wounds, but was soon resolved.
AP
|
