by Surprise, Surprise,
The strategic campaign continues, it's picking up steam now.
The title should be:
'Former AUS umpires say...'
kalu
http://www-aus.cricket.org/link_to_database/ARCHIVE/CRICKET_NEWS/2002...
Former umpires say Murali's action worse than ever Reuters - 15
December 2002
SYDNEY (Reuters) - Two former Australian test umpires have criticised
cricket bible Wisden for selecting Sri Lankan Muttiah Muralitharan as
the most valuable test bowler in history.
Ross Emerson and Col Egar told Sydney's Sunday Telegraph the judges
had ignored question marks over Muralitharan's action by choosing him
ahead of New Zealand's Richard Hadlee, England's Syd Barnes and
Australia's Shane Warne.
Emerson and Egar both said they thought Muralitharan, whose unique
action mixes finger spin with wrist rotation, was a chucker and his
action had been getting worse since he was officially cleared for
throwing.
The International Cricket Council, the sport's governing body, cleared
Muralitharan after he was filmed with high-speed cameras. It was
announced that he had a permanently bent arm, which gave the illusion
of throwing.
But Emerson, one of three Australian umpires who called Muralitharan
for chucking during the 1990s, said most top umpires around the world
thought his action was illegal but were too scared to call him in fear
of losing their jobs.
"Privately, all the top umpires say he throws but they've seen all the
trouble that can happen if you call him, so they won't," Emerson said.
"Muralitharan's action has changed since 1995 -- it's got worse -- but
he's not worried about it because who's going to call a bloke who has
more than 400 (test) wickets?"
Egar, a former Australian Cricket Board chairman, called Ian Meckiff
for throwing in his first over of the 1963-64 season, effectively
ending the left-arm quick's career.
He described Muralitharan's action as "disgusting" and said the game's
administrators should take a stand against him.
"Legislators are allowing this to go on and the issue around this
bloke has become completely political," Egar said.
"They need to change the law and let others throw as well, or fix this
bloke's action.
"Wisden has fallen for the trap of looking at this bloke's record, not
his action."
Wisden released their rankings of the top 100 test players in history
on Friday.
Muralitharan was called for throwing on his past two tours to
Australia and one of the umpires who called him in 1995-96, Darrell
Hair, has been selected to umpire Tuesday's one-day match between Sri
Lanka and England in Brisbane.
Sri Lankan team officials have already announced Muralitharan will
miss that match after recent surgery.