Sri Lanka's Muralitharan on report for suspect bowling action

The ICC today confirmed that Sri Lanka spin bowler Muttiah Muralitharan has been reported for a suspected illegal bowling action following concern over his new delivery which spins away from the right-handed batsmen.

The report was made by ICC Match Referee, Chris Broad, after watching Muralitharan's action during the third Test match in Colombo.

ICC Chief Executive Malcolm Speed explained that Mr Broad had informed both the ICC and the player's team management of the report as per the ICC regulations governing the reporting process.

"The Match Referee reviewed Muralitharan's new delivery and after examining this action closely decided to report the bowler to the ICC and notified Sri Lanka Cricket of this action," said Mr Speed.

"This issue now comes under the ICC's regulations dealing with this matter and over the next six weeks an expert bio-mechanist from the ICC's Approved List will be appointed by Sri Lanka Cricket to work with the bowler to clearly identify and address any flaws that may occur during the delivery action. Mr Muralitharan will be able to continue to play during this time."

Muralitharan becomes the fourth player reported to the ICC under its revised process to deal with potentially flawed actions in the past 12 months.

Jermaine Lawson (West Indies) Sanwar Hossain (Bangladesh) and Shabbir Ahmed (Pakistan) have previously been asked to undergo remedial work on their actions in order to address concerns identified by members of the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Umpires and Referees.

Lawson is available for selection for the West Indies after completing this work and recovering from a series of injuries that have kept him out of the game, Ahmed is back and played in Pakistan's ODI series against India after making some technical adjustments to his action and Hoosain has played for Bangladesh since his action was reported.

Speed said this latest report was made and will be dealt with in exactly the same way as every other report received by the ICC.

"Every bowler is treated in the same way by the ICC. All bowlers' actions are scrutinized and the match officials are empowered to make a report where they have concerns. This report is no different from the three others that have taken place in the past twelve months and will be treated no differently.

"This most recent report has been made based on concerns relating to a specific delivery, not the entire bowling action of the player.

"Mr Muralitharan will now work with an expert team over the next six weeks to address these concerns and he can continue to play international cricket during this time. He cannot be reported again during this six week period.

"At the end of that time the ICC will be provided with a specialist report on the remedial action, if any is required, that has taken place. This report will be circulated to the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Umpires and Referees for their information.

"If Mr Muralitharan is again reported within twelve months of this initial report, the matter will be dealt with by the ICC's Bowling Review Group which has the power to suspend a player."

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