Report on Murali's action to be completed by Tuesday

Bruce Elliott, the biomechanist at the University of Western Australia, has admitted that his research has so far not produced clear-cut conclusions regarding the legality of Muttiah Muralitharan's controversial doosra. Elliott will sit down with fellow scientists at the University of Western Australia and finalise the analysis by Tuesday.

Earlier reports claimed that the Sri Lankan board already knew the verdict. But Elliott told Guardian newspaper on Friday: "We have given Murali a preliminary report with some numbers. I can't say it is as clear as saying there is zero degrees [of straightening] but one needs to look at everything in totality and in a package.

"I have provided the test scores to Murali and Daryl Foster [the Australian bowling analyst] but I have not spoken to anyone from Sri Lanka. Our report will be finished by next Tuesday and will be emailed to Sri Lanka then."

Elliott confirmed that Muralitharan had returned to the university to repeat the tests after originally bowling 28 deliveries which were filmed by 12 high-speed cameras. The tests were repeated after concerns were raised in the media that he might have been bowling slower than he normally did in Test cricket. A speed gun was used during the second set of tests.

Elliott was adamant though that a bowler could not fool the cameras: "I cannot guarantee that he will not throw in a Test match but I am very confident that what we collected is an accurate reflection of what he does in the middle. The rotation speed of his arm was so high - as much as many fast bowlers, including Pakistan's Shabbir Ahmed, who was here for testing recently - that I am confident he was bowling normally."

The results of the two test sessions were similar and Elliott, who had earlier stated that he was skeptical of Muralitharan's ability to bowl the doosra without straightening his arm, admitted that he had been surprised by computer images that showed him bowling with a more round-arm action than expected.

"He is very relaxed for someone who has as much pressure on him," Elliott said. "He fervently believes that he doesn't extend his arm. He has such rotational ability with his wrist, his strange elbow and in his shoulder that it is quite possible that it is an optical illusion."