Murali hopeful of doosra getting the all-clear

Muttiah Muralitharan is now hopeful that his controversial doosra, a delivery that he has been forced to stop bowling by the ICC, will be given the all-clear shortly.

Muralitharan's arm bends by an average of 10 degrees when bowling the delivery, which is double the permitted level of bend for spinners, but an ICC-convened sub-committee has just completed the first stage of a review of the laws during a two-day meeting in Dubai.

The sub-committee is expected to recommend changes to the current laws after the latest biomechanical research on fast bowlers by Marc Portus in Australia and by the UK-based Paul Hurrion on spinners, a project that culminated during the ICC Champions Trophy.

The meeting was chaired by Dave Richardson, the ICC general manager, and attended by five other former players - Aravinda de Silva, Angus Fraser, Michael Holding, Tony Lewis and Tim May - and three leading mechanists: Bruce Elliott, Portus and Hurrion.

Muralitharan, currently focusing on charity work after shoulder surgery, is waiting anxiously to see if the doorsa is finally given the greenlight. The next stage of the review is an ICC Cricket Committee meeting on November 9 and 10.

Muralitharan has studied the scientific debate closely during the difficult months since his action was reported in March and he is now very optimistic that the case for change is too strong to be ignored."I sincerely believe I will be allowed to bowl the doosra again," he told the Island newspaper recently.

Muralitharan feels his bowling is handicapped without the doosra: "If I had bowled that particular delivery, I would have got more wickets and the team would have enjoyed more victories. But unfortunately that wasn't so and I am keeping my fingers crossed."

The ICC has not divulged the conclusions of the sub-committee, but claimed that the two-day meeting had been instructive they tried to gain a better understanding of one of the most controversial topics in the game.

"It has been a big help to have this matter discussed by such a well-qualified group of former international cricketers," said Mr Richardson. "This is only the first step in the review process and as the matter is still to be discussed by the full Cricket Committee it would be inappropriate for me to comment further at this stage."