The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Murali's `doosra' doesn't conform to ICC stipulation but should be allowed: UWA report

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Thursday, Apr 29, 2004

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Murali's `doosra' doesn't conform to ICC stipulation but should be allowed: UWA report

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI, APRIL 28. The tests conducted by experts at the University of Western Australia's School of Human Movement and Exercise Science on the Sri Lankan off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan's bowling action have revealed that he was straightening his arm 14 degrees while bowling the `doosra', a good nine degrees in excess of what was permissible (five degrees) for spinners under the International Cricket Council guidelines.

This was the initial assessment of the four-member UWA team that comprised biomechanics expert Professor Bruce Elliott, Ms. Jacque Alderson, Ms. Siobhan Reid and Mr. Daryl Foster, a former Western Australia cricket coach. Even after going through a remediation process under Foster, Muralitharan, tested again, straightened his arm 10.2 degrees, which was still over five degrees in excess of what was permitted, according to the UWA experts' report, a copy of which is now available with The Hindu.

The Sri Lankan off-spinner was first examined in Perth on April 1 and the final 3D analysis, following ICC guidelines, was made on April 7 after a period of "technique remediation" with Daryl Foster.

After the tests, conducted with state-of-the-art technology at the Biomechanics Laboratory in UWA, the conclusion in the Bowling Report is that "Mr. Muralitharan be permitted to continue bowling his `doosra' at least until a valid data base is collected on the various spin bowling disciplines. The relatively minor level of elbow extension following remediation over the period from arm horizontal to release is not believed to give Mr. Muralitharan an unfair advantage over batsmen or other bowlers".

Foster, meanwhile, says in his Remediation Report that "it would be unrealistic to ban Murali's `doosra' delivery without the benefit of proper research having been undertaken into `normal' spin bowlers.'' He concludes that "a straightening of 10 degrees when he (Murali) bowls his `doosra' is not excessive and that should not therefore be deemed advantageous.''

Muralitharan was sent to Perth by the Sri Lankan Cricket Board after the English match referee Chris Broad reported to the ICC after the recent Sri Lanka-Australia series that the off-spinner's action was "suspect" when he bowled the `doosra', the ball that turns the other way.

The Sri Lankan Cricket Board, which received the reports — the Bowling report and the Remediation report — from Perth recently, has forwarded the same to the International Cricket Council which is expected to respond to it in the next few days. The ICC, it must be noted, has in recent times made it clear that it would not tamper with current tolerance levels.

According to the Bowling Report, anthropometric assessment of Muralitharan's bowling arm as also a three-dimensional analysis of the same during the complete bowling action were made "in a laboratory environment which permitted a full bowling run-up". Bruce Yardley, a former Australian spin bowler, who commented on the quality of each delivery bowled by Muralitharan in the lab, assisted in the process.

Stressing that testing in laboratory conditions was far superior to any evaluation made on field, the Bowling Report says that "the opto-reflective 12-camera Vicon System that recorded at 250 pictures/second has an error margin of approximately 1 degree in data collection.'' It also points out that "the identification of elbow and shoulder joint centres in on-field data collection, where a shirt is worn, also involves large errors.''

Elbow angles

Calling for a modification in the ranges of acceptability of elbow angles for spin bowling, the report says that "the logic in reducing the margin for fast bowlers compared with spin bowlers is based on the lower speed delivery of this classification of bowler. However, while run-up speed and length of arm are generally higher for fast bowlers, spinners such as Muttiah Muralitharan actually have a similar rotational speed of the arm system. Mr. Muralitharan recorded a similar time (0.08s), from arm horizontal to release, to that recorded by Shabbir Ahmed Khan, the Pakistan fast bowler recently tested by this team. Therefore a case can certainly be made for some spin bowlers such as Mr. Muralitharan to have the same range of acceptability in elbow angle to that of fast bowlers.''

The Bowling Report highlights the fact that the "anthropometry assessment clearly shows that Mr. Muralitharan has a natural 35 degrees of elbow flexion during standing, which during the delivery action (under load) reduces to a value of approximately 24 degrees. Therefore any biomechanical assessment of his bowling action must take this 24-degree angle into account.

The report contends that the "bowling action recorded was similar to that used in a Test match". It says that "a case may be made for Mr. Muralitharan's initial elbow extension to be acceptable at 14 degrees. Particularly when one considers that the speed of his arm rotation is similar to that of a fast bowler and the only scientific data related to fast bowling suggested an increase in the acceptable extension threshold from 10 degrees to 15 degrees. However, the mean extension across six deliveries was outside current ICC guidelines for fast bowlers.''

It is because of this, according to the report, Muralitharan had to go through "a period of technique modification... to reduce the level of elbow movement during the delivery of his `doosra.' After this, "his elbow extension reduced to 10 degrees, which is within fast bowling guidelines.''

Bowling Report conclusions

"We contend that because the speed of his upper arm rotation is as fast and in some cases quicker than fast bowlers, his level of acceptability for elbow extension should also be set at the 10 degree mark. With no spin bowling data base to make a comparison, this would seem both a wise and prudent recommendation. Finally it is our considered opinion that Mr. Muralitharan be permitted to continue bowling his `doosra' at least until a valid data base is collected on various spin bowling disciplines,'' says the Bowling Report, underlining the experts' belief that the Sri Lankan spinner did not gain "an unfair advantage over batsmen or other bowlers.''

In his Remediation Report, Foster says that because it was clear that "Murali bowled the `doosra' from wide of the crease and with an "open" action, it was decided that if he could get more "side on" and deliver the `doosra' closer to the stumps" the amount of straightening of the arm could be reduced.

"This test on 2nd April looked at only a few deliveries to ascertain if the result warranted a remedial programme being put in place. The results obtained showed a positive shift which indicated a five-day remedial programme might make a significant difference. A re-test was set for 7th April.''

Technical problem

Foster's report also highlights what he calls Murali's technical problems. "Murali began his run up at too much of an angle to the bowling crease. This resulted in Murali bowling wide on the crease which caused his bowling action to be quite open. Due to his permanent elbow flexion and carry angle, Murali does not require a more horizontal rotation to allow his bowling arm to rotate efficiently. Therefore he will never be able to be completely side-on. Murali was unaware he had drifted into this open bowling position which had occurred over a period of time. Murali felt that this more closed approach and vertical arm rotation would aid his effectiveness and he was enthusiastic about making the change.''

The Western Australian coach also compliments Muralitharan as a bowler "who knows his body and his technique" very well. "He was able to adjust to the technical changes quite easily, as he maintained he used to bowl with this technique earlier in his career,'' says Foster in his Remediation Report.

According to Foster, the changes made include: 1) Reduced angle of run-up with a straighter approach; 2) Delivering from closer to the stumps; 3) Technique to become more side-on; 4) Alignment of the feel in the delivery stride to become more angled towards the on-side.

Re-test

The Sri Lankan bowler was tested again on April 7. "This test conformed to all ICC protocols. The result revealed a significant improvement, with the amount of elbow straightening of the `doosra' delivery reduced from 14 degrees, which was recorded in the initial test, to 10 degrees in the re-test. Allowing for this substantial improvement, Murali is still 5 degrees in excess of the ICC Tolerance Limit for spin bowlers. The protocol of "test-remediate-re-test", also used with Shabbir Ahmed, has again produced an improved result. In both the initial and post-test, Murali bowled with an upper arm rotational speed which corresponds to television coverage of his `doosra' delivery,''says the Remediation Report.

Finally, Foster reviews Murali's bowling action and presents a coaches perspective, which is reproduced in full below:

"Murali is now bowling the `doosra' with a more side-on action which has reduced the amount of straightening of his bowling arm between horizontal and ball-release to 10 degrees.

Ten degrees of straightening bowling the `doosra' is still 5 degrees above the tolerance limit set by the ICC for spin bowlers. However the following should be taken into consideration.

ICC tolerance figures of 10 degrees, 7.5 degrees and 5 degrees for bowlers ranging from fast to spin, are based on what information, studies or research?

Without knowing what the situation is with other spin bowlers, it would seem unrealistic to ban Murali's `doosra' without the benefit of proper research having been undertaken into `normal' spin bowlers.

Other off-spin bowlers, in particular Harbhajan, Saqlain and Shoaib Malik, all bowl the `doosra' delivery which suggests for comparison purposes their `other one' should also be analysed.

Murali's arm velocity from horizontal to ball release is very similar to that of Shabbir Ahmed's, a fast bowler recently tested at the University of Western Australia. This raises the question of why 10 degrees of extension for a fast bowler is acceptable, with only 5 degrees of tolerance granted to a spin bowler whose arm speed is similar.

The question also has to be posed as to when does a bowler gain an advantage from straightening. Marc Portus, in his latest research into fast bowling, suggests 15 degrees as being a point after which there may be some speed advantage gained by the fast bowler. However no such research has been conducted into spin bowling. It may be that 15 degrees of extension be allowed to all types of bowlers no matter what speed they bowl at, beyond which it will be termed an illegal delivery.

Marc Portus' fast bowling research investigated thirty-four deliveries bowled by 21 fast bowlers. Fourteen of these deliveries were in excess of the ICC Tolerance Level of 10 degrees. When the tolerance level was raised to 15 degrees there were still four illegal deliveries. This indicates there are fast bowlers who are regularly operating outside legal limits, whereas Murali only bowls his `doosra' approximately one in every twelve deliveries.

It is possible that the straightening of the elbow by all types of bowlers is a biomechanical reality. It is my contention that since fast bowlers have been operating with a front-on action, they have regularly extended their elbow more than the accepted limit, particularly when they bowl short-pitched deliveries.

The analysis of Murali's `doosra' conducted at the University of Western Australia's Department of Human Movement and Exercise Science used the most up-to-date technology and highly trained staff to determine the degrees of straightening of his bowling arm. This process needs to be used earlier in a bowler's development so as to provide a factual base for future discussion of the laws pertaining to legitimate bowling actions.

In conclusion, Murali, who has been tested more than any other bowler in the history of the game - 1995, 1999 and now, possesses different physical characteristics which make him a unique bowler. The results from these tests suggest that a straightening of 10 degrees when he bowls his `doosra' is not excessive and that should not therefore be deemed advantageous."

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