Former Sri Lanka spinner Muttiah Muralitharan has revealed he is in favour of the International Cricket Council’s clampdown on suspect bowling actions.
The ICC has come down hard on spinners that have been deemed to extend the bend in their arm above the 15 degree limit when bowling.
It has led to several bowlers being suspended from international cricket, most notably Pakistan talisman Saeed Ajmal.
While Muralitharan himself was no stranger to accusations of possessing an illegal action - due to a congenital bent arm, he was cleared on each occasion - the 42-year-old record breaker supports the ICC.
“Definitely. I’m in favour of the system because it’s the only way to prove a bowler is chucking or not,” said the world’s leading wicket-taker in Tests and one-day internationals.
“People don’t understand this, even past cricketers don’t understand: everybody’s arms are not the same. I can feel sympathy for them because they should have been tested before, not now.”
Muralitharan, who took 800 and 534 wickets in Tests and one-dayers respectively, retired from international cricket in 2011 before hanging up his boots for good earlier this year.
He will be a keen spectator when Sri Lanka play England in seven ODIs, the first of which is on Wednesday in Colombo, as both sides begin their preparations for next year’s World Cup.
Alastair Cook’s men have been given little chance of lifting the trophy in Australia and New Zealand and Muralitharan believes that is down to a number of factors.
“They tire the players,” he said in several national newspapers. “By the time they come to the main tournaments, they are tired.
“The pressure is high. They pick players who have played 30 or 40 one-dayers, and the good players should be averaging at least 40 but they don’t average that much.
“The other thing is they don’t play enough one-day internationals abroad like other countries. We play 30-35 one-day matches in a year but England play about 14 or 15, so that is not enough.
“They play more Tests and that is why they are good in Tests, but they think domestic matches are enough to experience one-day cricket. It is not.” – Press Association
