Murali confident that his doosra is legal

Muttiah Muralitharan has vowed to prove that his bowling action, including his controversial doosra, is legal during the coming six weeks. Muralitharan was plunged into a fresh throwing controversy after being reported by International Cricket Council match referee Chris Broad on Sunday.

"I am very disappointed by what has happened as I thought this matter was behind me," Muralitharan told reporters on Monday. "I have been bowling this delivery for over five years now and I am naturally upset because I feel there is nothing wrong with it."

Muralitharan's action will be assessed as soon as possible by an ICC-approved 'human movement specialist', who will be appointed shortly.

Muralitharan, who will still be able to play during the six-week assessment period, is hopeful that the fourth set of rigorous scientific tests on his action in his career will finally put an end to the controversy: "I am very confident that these assessments will prove, once and for all, that my bowling action is perfectly legal."

Muralitharan's bowling action was first assessed by the University of Western Australia in 1996 using six cameras shooting at a thousand frames per second. They concluded that his unique bent-arm action created the optical illusion of chucking.

Further voluntary research was carried out by the University of Hong Kong the same year and in England in 1999 after being called during Sri Lanka's tour to Australia in 1998/99.