Some people never give up. Despite the Doosra being banned by the ICC, Daryl Foster -- booking in some steady work -- is determined to accommodate Murali.
Unfortunately, unlinked in today's Herald Sun , Dazza damns himself with his own words -- "I don't think you can have arbitrary figures of five, 7.5 and 10 -- I think you are making a mockery of it".
Precisely. A mockery. The only non-arbitrary figure is 0 degrees.
Foster: Doosra will be back
MUTHIAH Muralidaran may not have long to wait before bowling his doosra again, despite being ordered to shelve the controversial delivery.
After weeks of conjecture, the International Cricket Council has finally made official what many have long known -- that the Sri Lankan off-spinner bowls his ungainly leg-spinning delivery with an illegal arm flex.
But Australian captain Ricky Ponting and deputy Adam Gilchrist have dismissed suggestions that Muralidaran, who took his 520th Test scalp on Sunday to become the game's all-time leading wicket-taker, should be stripped of the record.
"It might have got worse over the last couple of months, but he certainly hasn't taken all of his Test wickets with that delivery," Ponting said.
"I would be surprised if he took many wickets with that delivery at all."
Gilchrist said Muralidaran, the world's No. 1 ranked bowler, would remain a potent force.
"He is talented enough and showed he is resilient enough to develop something else, or maybe refine that ball so it does meet the standards, or the rules may change," he said.
"To take that one ball out of his repertoire does not mean he is an ordinary bowler."
The ICC said yesterday it supported the decision by the Sri Lankan Cricket Board to order its master tweaker not to bowl the delivery.
Muralidaran has been told that he could face a year-long ban if he persists with it.
But with the ICC set to begin a major review into spin bowling in September, Daryl Foster -- who helped conduct the recent tests on Muralidaran at the University of Western Australia -- says the doosra isn't dead yet.
"I have no doubt that he will be able to bowl it again down the track," the former Western Australian coach said.
"It may be in six months, it may be in nine months. He might have to do a bit more work to get that 10 degrees down a bit.
"Let's see what the tolerance level is we end up with from the ICC in regards to all sorts of bowling.''
Spin bowlers are allowed an arm flex of five degrees, medium-pacers 7.5 and fast bowlers 10.
Tests originally showed Muralidaran had an arm flex of 14 degrees when bowling the doosra. But he reduced it to 10 after five days of remedial work with Foster.
There's a feeling that fast bowlers may eventually be allowed an arm flex of 15 degrees and spin bowlers 10.
"I don't think you can have arbitrary figures of five, 7.5 and 10 -- I think you are making a mockery of it," Foster said.
Muralidaran was reported by match referee Chris Broad after the third Test against Australia in Colombo six weeks ago.
As he could not be reported for chucking again in this stage-one period, he ignored the wishes of the Sri Lankan board and continued to bowl the doosra in the on-going series against Zimbabwe.
But that six-week stage expires at midnight tonight.
If he opts to bowl the doosra and is reported in the second Test in Bulawayo beginning tomorrow, he could be suspended for a year.
There are two questions that never seem to get asked.:
1) How much did Murali spin the ball when he chucked at 14 degrees?
2) How much did Murali spin the ball when he chucked at 10 degrees?
Surely if the doosra spins more for a 14 degree chuck than for a 10 degree chuck, then that would clearly reveal there's an advantage to be gained by bent-arm spinning -- something often decried by the chuckanistas -- because it would clearly reveal that the amount of spin gained is dependant on how much the arm is bent.
We've already seen how much the amount of spin rises from Chucky's apologists the further the rules of cricket are bent. I'd say it's an exponential relationship. I don't understand why Aussie (and other non- Sri Lankan) bowlers simply increase their arm-bending angles in a blatant fashion whenever playing Sri Lanka, using the same "naturally bent elbow" excuses, and loudly point out the hypocrisy if they are no-balled. The administrators might actually get the message for once.
Posted by: Clem Snide | 13 May 2004 at 23:14
>>>>"I don't think you can have arbitrary figures of five, 7.5 and 10 -- I think you are making a mockery of it," Foster said.
What an insane non-comment. What a fucking smart ass. Reminds me of some sleazy politician weaseling out of a proper answer during "question time." Did he elaborate on this somewhere and not get quoted?
Why is that a mockery? How? I don't get it.
Daryl Foster can lick my balls.
Posted by: Big Ramifications | 14 May 2004 at 04:15
Awesome idea Clem!
Next Aus vs. SL series, what about throwing the ball to Haydos next time Murali comes in to bat.
Get him to chuck a few overs.
Then Ponting can angrily shake his finger at the umpire when Haydos finally gets called. Ponting should accuse the umpire of being racist - just for bonus laffs.
Posted by: Big Ramifications | 14 May 2004 at 04:25
I'm with you guys. Let's get one over together where Ponting brings on Hayden or Langer and gets them to chuck no-balls for about ten minutes. Then bring 'em on at the other end and get them to bowl properly. And deny there was anything wrong with the first over.
Posted by: Tony.T | 17 May 2004 at 08:06