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Muttiah Muralitharan

Muttiah Muralitharan (Tamil: முத்தையா முரளிதரன், born 17 April 1972 in Kandy, Sri Lanka), often referred to as Murali, is a Sri Lankan cricketer who was rated the greatest Test-Match bowler ever by Wisden Cricketers' Almanack in 2002.

Muralitharan is Test cricket's highest wicket-taker, having overtaken the previous record-holder Shane Warne on 3 December 2007. Muralitharan had held the record before when he surpassed West Indies' Courtney Walsh's 519 wickets in 2004. But he suffered a shoulder injury later that year and was then overtaken by Warne. He is also second in the list of wicket-takers in One Day Internationals.

Averaging over six wickets per Test, Muralitharan is one of the most successful bowlers in the game and the greatest player in Sri Lanka's history. He plays domestic cricket for the Tamil Union Cricket and Athletic Club, and county cricket for Lancashire as an overseas player.

Muralitharan's career has been beset with controversy; his bowling action called into question on a number of occasions by umpires and sections of the cricket community. After biomechanical analysis in non-match conditions, Muralitharan's action was cleared by the International Cricket Council, first in 1996 and again in 1999. The legality of his doosra was first called into question in 2004. This delivery was found to exceed the ICC elbow extension limit of five degrees, assigned for spinners at that time. Based on of official studies into bowling actions, the International Cricket Council revised the elbow flexion limits applying to all bowlers in 2005. Muralitharan's doosra falls within the revised limits.

Muralitharan was left out of the one-day touring squad to West Indies in early 2008, leading to speculation that he may be focusing on Test cricket in the future whilst Sri Lanka built a younger squad for One Day Internationals.

Early years and personal life

Muralitharan was born in the village of Nattarampotha in Kundasale (near Kandy), the eldest of the four sons to Sinnasamy Muttiah and Lakshmi. Muralitharan's father Sinnasamy Muttiah, runs a successful biscuit-making business.

When he was nine years old Muralitharan was sent to St.Anthony’s College, Kandy, a private school run by Benedictine monks. He began his cricketing career as a medium pace bowler but on the advice of his school coach, Sunil Fernando, he took up off spin when he was fourteen years old. He soon impressed and went on to play for four years in the school First XI. In those days he played as an all-rounder and batted in the middle order. In his final two seasons at St Anthony's College he took over one hundred wickets and in 1990/1 was named as the 'Bata Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year'. After leaving school he joined Tamil Union Cricket and Athletic Club and was selected for the Sri Lanka A tour of England in 1991. He played in five games but failed to capture a single wicket. On his return to Sri Lanka he impressed against Allan Border's Australian team in a practice game and then went on to make his Test debut at R. Premadasa Stadium in the Second Test Match of the series.

When his grandfather died at the age of 104 in July 2004, Muralitharan returned home from a tour of India to attend his funeral. Periyasamy Sinasamy's first wish to see Muralitharan claiming the world record for the most Test wickets was realised (passing the record set by Courtney Walsh), but not his desire to live to see his grandson married. Muralitharan's grandmother had passed away one month earlier at the age of 97. Muralitharan's manager, Kushil Gunasekera stated that "Murali's family is closely knit and united. They respect traditional values. The late grandfather enjoyed a great relationship with Murali.

Muralitharan married Madhimalar Ramamurthy, an Indian national, on 21 March 2005. Madhimalar is the daughter of late Dr S. Ramamurthy of Malar Hospitals, and his wife Dr Nithya Ramamurthy. Their first child, Naren, was born in January 2006.

Spelling and meaning of name

Even though his name has been widely romanised as Muralitharan since the commencement of his career, the cricketer himself prefers to romanise his name as Muralidaran. In 2007, when Cricket Australia decided to unveil the new Warne-Muralidaran Trophy, to be contested between Australia and Sri Lanka, Muralitharan was requested to clarify how his name should be spelt. Cricket Australia spokesman Peter Young confirmed that "the spelling he's given is Muralidaran".

The first day cover involving Muralitharan bears an official seal captioned as "The highest wicket taker in Test cricket, MUTHIAH MURALIDARAN, First Day of Issue 03.12.2007, Camp Post Office, Asgiriya International Cricket Stadium, Kandy".

The name Muralitharan means "the bearer of the flute", which is a synonym for Lord Krishna, who used to play upon his bamboo flute while looking after his cattle.

Domestic cricket

In Sri Lanka

In domestic cricket, Muralitharan has played for two first-class Sri Lankan sides, Tamil Union Cricket and Athletic Club in the Premier Trophy and Central Province in the Provincial Championship. His record has been exceptional - 234 wickets at 14.51 runs in 46 matches.

In England

He has also played county cricket in England, mainly for Lancashire (from 1999 until 2007) where he appeared in twenty eight first-class games for the club. He played five first class games for Kent during the 2003 season. His bowling record in English domestic cricket is also exceptional - 236 wickets at 15.62 runs in 33 matches. Despite his efforts, he has not been on a title winning first-class domestic team in either the Premier Trophy or the County Championship. He is unusual amongst the majority of current Test players in that he has played in more Test matches than other first-class games (116 tests and 99 other first class matches as of 30 November 2007).

In India

In February 2008, Muralitharan was slated to play Twenty20 cricket for Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League (IPL) . He was bought for $600,000 by India Cements, the Chennai franchisee of the IPL, through a bidding process. Chennai Super Kings were the runners up in the inaugural edition of the IPL, losing to Rajasthan Royals in the final. Muralitharan captured 11 wickets in 15 games, at an economy rate of 6.96 an over.

Muralitharan, has contracted to represent Bengal in the 2008-09 Ranji Trophy tournament. He is expected to play about four matches in the tournament's second division - the Plate League.

International career

Bowling style and career progress

Muralitharan is the first wrist-spinning offspinner in the history of the game. He bowls marathon spells, yet he is usually on the attack. His unique bowling action begins with an open-chested short run-up, and culminates with an extremely wristy release which had him mistaken for a leg-spinner early in his career by Allan Border. Aside from his off break, his main deliveries are a fast topspinner which goes straight on, and the doosra, a surprise delivery which turns from leg to off (the opposite direction of his stock delivery) with no easily discernible change of action. His newest variation is a version of Shane Warne's slider, which is flicked out the side of his hand and rushes onto batsmen like a flipper. His super-flexible wrist makes him especially potent and guarantees him turn on any surface.

Since his debut in 1992, Muralitharan has taken over 750 Test wickets and over 475 One Day International wickets, becoming the first player to take 1,000 wickets combined in the two main forms of international cricket.

Test cricket

Emerging years

On 28 28 August 1992 at the age of 20, Muralitharan made his debut against Australia at the Khettarama Stadium and claimed 3 for 141. Craig McDermott was his first Test wicket. His freakish action and his angular run-up showed that this was no run-of-the-mill spinner. During his first Test, there was one dismissal which convinced many of Muralitharan's special powers. Tom Moody's leg-stump was dislodged when he shouldered arms to a delivery that pitched at least two feet outside the off-stump.

The youthful Muralitharan went from strength to strength, playing a major part in Sri Lanka's back-to-back Test victories against England and New Zealand in 1992-93. It was at this point in his career that he struck a close bond with his leader, mentor and one time business partner, the authoritative captain Arjuna Ranatunga. This relationship formed the bedrock of his success and meant that there were few doubts about his status as the team's sole wicket-taker. Ranatunga was thoroughly convinced that Muralitharan's precocious talent would signal a new era in Sri Lanka's short Test history. In August 1993 at Moratuwa, Muralitharan captured 5 for 104 in South Africa's first innings, his first five-wicket haul in Tests. His wickets include Kepler Wessels, Hansie Cronje and Jonty Rhodes.

Muralitharan has continued to baffle batsman outside the shores of Sri Lanka, irrespective of the team's performance. In Sri Lanka's humiliating drubbing at the hands of India in 1993-94, where all three Tests were innings defeats, Muralitharan was the sole success, with 12 wickets in the rubber. His perseverance in the face of some astronomical scores by the fearsome quartet of Mohammed Azharuddin, Sachin Tendulkar, Navjot Sidhu and Vinod Kambli was in sharp contrast to the submission with which his team-mates played the series.

It was in New Zealand in March 1995 that Muralitharan displayed his qualities as a match-winner on any surface. In Sri Lanka's first triumph on foreign soil, Muralitharan confused the crease-bound New Zealanders on a grassy pitch in Dunedin. The Sri Lankan manager Duleep Mendis' claim that Muralitharan can turn the ball on concrete was confirmed. On the eve of his tour of Pakistan later that year, doubts were cast on his ability to trouble subcontinental batsmen. By taking 19 wickets in the series and delivering a historic 2-1 victory, the off-spinner silenced the doubters. The Pakistanis, who had negotiated Warne's leg-breaks in the previous home series, were never at ease against him.

Prior to the eventful Boxing Day test of 1995, Muralitharan had captured 80 wickets in 22 tests at an unflattering average of 32.74. Even at that point in his career he was the leading wicket taker for Sri Lanka having gone past Rumesh Ratnayake's aggregate of 73 wickets.

Boxing day test 1995

During the second Test between Sri Lanka and Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Boxing Day 1995, Australian umpire Darrell Hair called Sri Lankan spinner Muttiah Muralitharan for throwing in front of a crowd of 55,239. The off-spinner, was no-balled seven times in three overs by Hair, who believed the then 23 year old was bending his arm and straightening it in the process of delivery; an illegal action in cricket.

The drama unfolded midway through the second session of play. Muralitharan had bowled two overs before lunch from umpire Steve Dunne's or the Members' End of the ground with umpire Hair at square leg and these passed without incident. At 2:34pm he took up the attack from umpire Hair's or the southern end. Muralitharan's third over was a maiden with all deliveries again passed as legitimate but in his fourth Hair no-balled him twice for throwing on the fourth and sixth balls. The umpire continued to call him three times in his fifth over on the second, fourth and sixth balls. While the bowler stood with his hands on his hips perplexed, the five calls provoked an immediate response by the Sri Lankan captain Arjuna Ranatunga who left the field at 3:03pm in order to take advice from his team management. He returned at 3:08pm and continued with Muralitharan who was called two more times in his sixth over on the second and sixth balls. At 3:17pm Ranatunga removed the offending bowler from the attack, although he reintroduced him at 3:30pm at umpire Dunne's end. Although Hair reports in his book, "Decision Maker", that at the end of the tea break he stated that he would call Muralitharan no matter which end he bowled he did not do so. Muralitharan completed another twelve overs without further no-balls and, after bowling Mark Waugh, finished the day with figures of 18-3-58-1.

The controversy bubbled on during the two-day long Australian innings. After being no-balled Muralitharan bowled further 32 overs from umpire Steve Dunne's end without protest from either Dunne or Hair, at square leg. The Sri Lankan camp was outraged after the incident, but the ICC leapt to Hair's defence, outlining a list of steps they had taken in the past to determine, without result, the legitimacy of Muralitharan's action. By calling Muralitharan from the bowlers' end Hair overrode what is normally regarded as the authority of the square leg umpire in adjudicating on throwing. Dunne would have had to break convention to support his partner.

At the end of the match the Sri Lankans requested from the ICC permission to confer with Hair in order to find out exactly how to remedy the problem with their bowler. Despite the game's controlling body agreeing to it, the Australian Cricket Board vetoed it on the grounds that it might lead to umpires being quizzed by teams after every game and meant that the throwing controversy would continue into the World Series Cup during the coming week. The Sri Lankans were disappointed they didn't get an explanation and decided they would continue playing their bowler in matches not umpired by Hair and wanted to know whether other umpires would support or reject Hair's judgement.

Mid career

On March 16, 1997 Muralitharan became the first Sri Lankan to reach 100 Test wickets, when he dismissed Stephen Fleming in the second innings of the Hamilton Test.

In January 1998, Muralitharan took his first ten-wicket haul against Zimbabwe in the first Test at Kandy. Sri Lanka won by eight wickets and Muralitharan had figures of 12 for 117. In August that same year Muralitharan produces his career-best Test match figures of 16 for 220, in the one-off Test against England. Ben Hollioake becomes his 200th Test wicket. Sri Lanka won by ten wickets, their first Test victory in England.

Playing his 58th Test, Muralitharan claimed his 300th Test wicket when he dismissed Shaun Pollock in the first Test in Durban, in December 2000. Only Dennis Lillee reached the milestone faster, in his 56th Test.

On 4 January 2002 in Kandy Muralitharan might have finished with the best-ever figures for a single innings, but after he had claimed nine wickets against Zimbabwe Russel Arnold dropped a catch at short leg. He missed out on the tenth when Chaminda Vaas dismissed Henry Olonga caught behind amid stifled appeals. Muralitharan follows up his 9 for 51 in the first innings with 4 for 64 in the second, equaling Richard Hadlee's record of 10 ten-wicket match hauls, but needing 15 fewer Tests to do so.

On 15 January 2002 playing in his 72nd Test, Muralitharan became the fastest to reach the 400-wicket landmark when he bowled Olonga in the third Test in Galle.

On 16 March 2004 Muralitharan became the fastest and the youngest bowler to reach 500 wickets during the second Test between Sri Lanka and Australia played in Kandy. In his 87th Test, he bowled Kasprowicz to claim his 500th victim just 4 days after Warne reached the landmark on the fifth day of the first Test between the two teams at Galle. Warne took 108 Tests to reach 500. Muralitharan took 4-48 on the first day of the second Test as Australia was skittled for 120 in the first innings.

Passing Walsh and Warne

In May 2004, Muralitharan overtook West Indian Courtney Walsh's record of 519 Test match wickets to become the highest wicket-taker. Zimbabwe's Mluleki Nkala becomes Muralitharan's 520th scalp in Tests. Muralitharan held the record until Shane Warne claimed it in October 2004. Warne surpassed Sri Lankan Muttiah Muralitharan's mark of 532 wickets by dismissing India's Irfan Pathan. Warne said he enjoyed his duel with Muralitharan, who was sidelined following shoulder surgery at the time.

After an outstanding year Muralitharan was adjudged as the Wisden Leading Cricketer in the World in 2006. In six Tests, he took 60 wickets. He took ten in each of four successive matches, the second time he has performed such a feat. The opponents for his 60-wicket haul were England away, South Africa at home and New Zealand away: serious opposition. In all, Muralitharan took 90 wickets in 11 Tests in the calendar year.

In July 2007, Muttiah Muralitharan become the second bowler after Australia's Shane Warne to capture 700 Test wickets. The off spinner reached the landmark when he had Bangladesh's last man Syed Rasel caught in the deep by Farveez Maharoof on the fourth day of the third and final Test at the Asgiriya stadium in Kandy. The dismissal signalled Sri Lanka's victory by an innings and 193 runs to give the host a 3-0 sweep of the series. Muralitharan finished with six wickets in each innings to claim 10 wickets or more in a Test for the 20th time. However, he was unable to pass Warne's record of 708 wickets when Sri Lanka toured Australia in November 2007, capturing just 4 wickets in two test matches.

Muralitharan reclaimed the record for most Test wickets during the first Test against England at Kandy on 3 December 2007. The spinner, bowled England's Paul Collingwood to claim his 709th Test victim and overtaking Shane Warne in the process.. Muralitharan reached the mark in his 116th Test - 29 fewer than Warne - and had conceded only 21.77 runs per wicket compared to the Australian's 25.41. This was Muralitharan's 61st 5-wicket haul. Warne believes that Muralitharan will take "1,000 wickets" before he retires. Former record holder Courtney Walsh has also opined that this is possible if Muralitharan retains his hunger for wickets. Muralitharan himself believes there is a possibility that he will reach this milestone.

Beyond the world record

In July 2008, Muttiah Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis made a mockery of India's strong batting reputation as Sri Lanka won the first Test by a record innings and 239 runs in Colombo. Muralitharan finished the match with 11 wickets for 110, as India were shot out for 138 in their second innings after conceding a lead of 377 on the fourth day. He was brilliantly supported by debutant Ajantha Mendis, an unorthodox spinner with plenty of variation, who took eight wickets in his debut match.

Muttiah Muralitharan believes the emergence of young spinner Ajantha Mendis will help prolong his own career. Muralitharan, 36, and 23-year-old Mendis formed a formidable partnership in the first Test thrashing of India, taking 19 of the 20 wickets between them. "If he keeps performing this way, he will definitely take a lot of wickets in international cricket. Now that he has come, I think I can play Test cricket a few more years. Bowling 50 overs in a test innings is very hard. Now if I bowl only 30-35 and he bowls more than me, the job will get easier for me.

Performance analysis

Muttiah Muralitharan's greatness lies in the fact that even when batsmen read his deliveries, it is still difficult for them to successfully play them. Like many bowlers he didn't start on the international scene a finished product, every trick in place, every nuance worked out, with only the minor detail of wicket-taking to follow. It took him 27 Tests to claim 100 wickets; the hundred wicket milestones thereafter came in 15, 16, 14, 15, 14 and 12 Tests respectively. His bowling ability wasn't created behind closed doors, but one that evolved out in the open in front of thousands of spectators.

In July 2007, Muralitharan achieved a career peak Test Bowling Rating of 920, based on the LG ICC Player Rankings. This is the highest ever rating achieved by a spin bowler in test cricket. This also puts him in 4th place in the LG ICC Best-Ever Test bowling ratings.

Muralitharan has the unique distinction of getting 10 or more wickets in a match against all other 9 Test playing nations as well as capturing over 50 wickets against each of them. He has also obtained 7 or more wickets in an innings against 5 nations, namely England, India, South Africa, West Indies and Zimbabwe (refer to table above).

He currently holds the highest wickets/match ratio (6.1) for any bowler with over 200 Test wickets and has also represented Sri Lanka in 118 tests of the 175 that they have played (67.4%).

As a match-winner, Muralitharan has no rival. In the 45 Tests that Sri Lanka have won with him in the team, he has taken a phenomenal 373 wickets - that's more than eight per match - at an average of 15 and a strike rate of 41. Only Warne, with 510, and Glenn McGrath (414) have taken more wickets in wins. Muralitharan's record has few blemishes, but the two teams he hasn't quite conquered have been Australia and India. He had a disappointing series in Australia in late 2007, averaging 100 runs per wicket, whilst in the eight Tests he has played in India, he has only managed 31 wickets at 39.58 apiece. The other criticism sometimes leveled by some against Muralitharan is the number of wickets he has taken against cricketing minnows Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. He has done exceptionally well against them, but remove those matches from his career numbers, and the statistics still look very good. Against teams excluding Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, Muralitharan has taken 572 wickets in 97 tests at an average of 24.05, which is still superior to Warne's career average of 25.41. Muralitharan has won 18 Man of the Match awards in Test cricket.

Another comparison of Muralitharan's bowling record against other successful international bowlers is their career record away from home. Muralitharan has received criticism that he has enjoyed great success on home soil, taking wickets on pitches that are more spin-friendly than other international pitches. A quick analysis of his Test record of matches played outside Sri Lanka shows that from 52 matches he has taken 278 wickets at an average of 26.24 runs per wicket, with a strike rate of 60.1 balls per wicket. Similarly, spin bowling rival Shane Warne retired with a slightly superior 'away' record of 362 wickets from 73 matches, at an average of 25.50 and a strike rate of 56.7. Due to the variabilities of Test cricket such as grounds played at and opposition played against it is difficult to compare the quality of the top level players and, as such, is very difficult and subjective.

Five wickets in an innings

Muralitharan has taken five or more wickets in an innings on 65 occasions in test cricket, which is a world record. In comparison Shane Warne who is in second place has performed the feat 37 times.

One day internationals

On 12 August 1993 Muralitharan made his One Day International (ODI) debut against India at the Khettarama Stadium and took 1 for 38 off ten overs. Praveen Amre was his first ODI wicket.

On 27 October 2000 in Sharjah, Murali captured 7 for 30 against India, which were then the best bowling figures in One Day Internationals.

In 9 April 2002 Muralitharan achieved a career peak ODI Bowling Rating of 913, based on the LG ICC Player Rankings. This is the highest ever rating achieved by a spin bowler in One Day Internationals. This also puts him in 4th place in the LG ICC Best-Ever ODI bowling ratings.

In 2006, Muralitharan had the second (now third) highest number of runs (99) hit off him in a One Day International Innings. The Australians rattled him, especially Adam Gilchrist, as they attacked each trick tried by Muralitharan that day. It is also to be noted that Muralitharan does not have a great record against the Australians in ODIs and this was proved again as he was ineffective in the finals of the 2007 World Cup; his chief tormentor again being Gilchrist.

Muralitharan has played in four Cricket World Cup tournaments, in 1996, 1999, 2003 and 2007. He has captured 53 World Cup wickets in 31 matches, and has represented Sri Lanka in two World Cup finals. In 1996 Muralitharan was part Sri Lanka's World Cup winning team that defeated Australia in Lahore, Pakistan. Muralitharan also played in the 2007 World Cup final, when Australia defeated Sri Lanka in Bridgetown, Barbados. He picked up 23 wickets in the 2007 World Cup, and finished as the second highest wicket taker in the tournament behind Glenn McGrath.

Muttiah Muralitharan was left out of the Sri Lankan one-day squad to tour West Indies in April 2008. The chairman of selectors Ashantha De Mel clarifying the non-selection stated that "We know he (Muralitharan) can still play in the next World Cup if he is properly looked after, so we want to use him sparingly to preserve him for the big games and the World Cup coming up in the Asian sub-continent where Muralitharan will be a threat."

Currently, Muralitharan has second highest number of career wickets in One Day Internationals, behind Wasim Akram. He has won 11 Man of the Match awards in this form of the game.

Abuse in Australia

Muralitharan has voiced his frustration at routinely being heckled by Australian crowds who accuse him of throwing - one common jeer directed at him was "No Ball!". Following the then Australian Prime Minister John Howard's statement that Murali was a "chucker" , in 2004, Muralitharan indicated that he would skip future tours to Australia.

Tom Moody, the former Sri Lanka coach, said he was embarrassed by the derogatory reaction and negative attention directed towards Muttiah Muralitharan by Australian crowds. Moody stated that "As an Australian when I have been with the Sri Lankan team in Australia, or playing against them in the World Cup, it's the only situation we find in the whole of the cricketing world where we have this disgraceful slant on a cricketer".

During the 2008 CB series in Australia, some members of the Sri Lankan contingent including Muralitharan, were the target of an egg throwing incident in Hobart. The Sri Lankan cricket selector Don Anurasiri was hit by an egg, while Muralitharan and two others were verbally abused by a car-load of people as they were walking from a restaurant back to the hotel. Due to the incident taking place at night, it is unclear whether Muralitharan was indeed the target of the culprits. Even though the Australian coach of the Sri Lankan team, Trevor Bayliss, down-played the incident as "a non-event", Cricket Australia tightened security around the team. In response to this episode Muralitharan was quoted as saying "When you come to Australia, you expect such incidents".

Cricket awards

Man of match in test cricket

Man of match in one day internationals

Recognition

In 2002, Wisden carried out a statistical analysis of all Test matches in an effort to rate the greatest cricketers in history, and Muralitharan was ranked as the best Test bowler of all time. However, two years earlier, Muralitharan was not named as one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Century. Former Australian captain Steve Waugh called him "the Don Bradman of bowling".

Muralitharan was selected as the Wisden Leading Cricketer in the World in 2000 and in 2006.

On 15 November 2007, the Warne-Muralidaran Trophy was unveiled named after the two leading wicket-takers in Test cricket, Shane Warne and Muralitharan. The trophy displays images of the two spin bowlers' hands each holding a cricket ball. This trophy will be contested between Australia and Sri Lanka in all future Test series.

On 3 December 2007, just hours after Muttiah Muralitharan became Test cricket's leading Test wicket-taker, Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) announced it had unveiled a portrait of the Sri Lanka off-spinner at Lord's. On the same day the Philatelic Bureau of the Department of Posts in Sri Lanka issued a circular stamp with a denomination of Rs. 5 to mark the world record set by Muttiah Muralitharan. The circular design was meant to denote the cricket ball.

Australian musician Alston Koch provoked worldwide interest when he recorded the only official tribute song to Muralitharan, the song was even mentioned on the BBC's Test Match Special.The Muralitharan Song video was also released after he broke the world record.

On 10 January 2008, the Parliament of Sri Lanka felicitated Muttiah Muralitharan for his world record breaking feat of being the highest wicket taker in Test cricket. This is the first time that a sportsman has been honoured in the country’s Supreme Legislature.

Controversy of bowling action

First throwing citation and testing

Initial concerns as to whether Muralitharan's action contravened the laws of the game by straightening his right arm further than is allowed while bowling broke into open controversy after Australian umpire Darrell Hair called a "no ball" for an illegal action seven times during the Boxing Day Test match in Melbourne, Australia, in 1995. Australian Sir Donald Bradman, universally regarded as the greatest batsman in history, was later quoted as saying it was the "worst example of umpiring that [he had] witnessed, and against everything the game stands for. Clearly Murali does not throw the ball". Bradman was aged about 85 when he made the comments.

Ten days later, on 5 January, 1996, Sri Lanka played the West Indies in the 7th ODI of the triangular World Series competition, in Brisbane. Umpire Ross Emerson officiating in his debut international match, no-balled Muralitharan three times in his first over, twice in his second and twice in his third. It was an identical tally to that called by Hair on Boxing Day and (like Hair) Emerson made his calls from the bowler's end while his partner stood silent. The main difference was that several no-balls were for leg-breaks instead of the bowler's normal off-breaks.

In February 1996, just before the world cup Muralitharan underwent biomechanical analysis at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology under the supervision of Prof. Ravindra Goonetilleke, who declared his action legal in the conditions tested, citing a congenital defect in Muralitharan's arm which makes him incapable of fully straightening it, but giving the appearance of fully straightening the arm. Although under the original Laws a bowler's arm did not need to be fully straightened to be in breach of a legal delivery. They concluded that his action created the 'optical illusion of throwing'. Based on this evidence ICC gave clearance to Muralitharan to continue bowling.

Second citation and testing

Doubts about Muralitharan's action persisted however, on the 1998-99 tour to Australia he was once again called for throwing by Ross Emerson during a One Day International against England at the Adelaide Oval in Australia. The Sri Lankan team almost abandoned the match, but after instructions from the President of the Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka, the game resumed.The Sri Lankan captain at the time Arjuna Ranatunga, was later fined and given a suspended ban from the game as a result. It later emerged that at the time of this match Emerson was on sick leave from his non-cricket job due to a stress-related illness and he stood down for the rest of the series. Muralitharan was sent for further tests in Perth and England and was cleared again. At no stage was Muralitharan requested to change or remodel his action, by the ICC. Up to this point in his career (1999) Muralitharan primarily bowled two types of deliveries, namely the off break and the topspinner. He had not yet mastered the doosra.

Third citation and testing

Muralitharan continued bowling, taking his 500th Test wicket in the second Test against Australia in Kandy on 16 March 2004. At the end of the series his doosra delivery was officially called into question by match referee Chris Broad. At the University of Western Australia (Department of Human Movement and Exercise Science), three-dimensional kinematic measurements of Muttiah Muralitharan’s bowling arm were taken using an optical motion capture system while he bowled his doosra. Murali’s mean elbow extension angle for the doosra delivery was 14°, which was subsequently reduced to a mean of 10.2° after remedial training at the University. Although Elliott et al. (2004) concluded 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 overwhelming response was that Murali’s doosra contravened the established ICC elbow extension limit of 5° for spinners.

Under the original throwing Laws of Cricket, the umpires officiating were under an obligation to call "no-ball" to a delivery that they were not entirely happy was absolutely fair. This Law gave the umpires absolutely no discretion. In 2000, the Laws were changed to put an allowable figure of straightening of 5° for spinners, 7.5° for medium pacers and 10° for fast bowlers in an attempt to more clearly define what was legal. But these figures proved difficult to enforce due to umpires being unable to discern actual amounts of straightening and the differentiation between the three different allowable figures. Testing in Test Match conditions is not currently possible "when the identification of elbow and shoulder joint centres in on-field data collection, where a shirt is worn, also involves large errors. In a match the ability to differentiate anatomical movements such as 'elbow extension' by digitising segment end-points, particularly if you have segment rotations, is extremely difficult and prone to error. This is certainly the case with spin bowlers. It is therefore not surprising that laboratory testing is preferred, particularly for spin bowlers, where an appropriate pitch length and run-up can be structured. This is clearly the only way to test players, where data would be able to withstand scientific and therefore legal scrutiny."

An extensive ICC study, the results of which were released in November 2004, was conducted to investigate the "chucking issue". A laboratory kinematic analysis of 42 non-Test playing bowlers done by Ferdinands and Kersting (2004) established that the 5° limit for slow and spin bowlers was particularly impractical. The researchers recommended that a flat rate of 15° tolerable elbow extension be used to define a preliminary demarcation point between bowling and throwing.

A panel of former Test players consisting of Aravinda de Silva, Angus Fraser, Michael Holding, Tony Lewis, Tim May and the ICC's David Richardson, with the assistance of several biomechanical experts, stated that 99% of all bowlers in the history of cricket straighten their arms when bowling.. Only one player tested (part-time bowler Ramnaresh Sarwan) reportedly did not transgress the rules. Muralitharan's off break and topspinner were deemed within the rules (2 to 5 degree straightening). Many of these reports have controversially not been published and as such, the 99% figure stated has yet to be proved. In fact, Muralitharan stirred up controversy when he said during an interview with a Melbourne radio station that Jason Gillespie, Glenn McGrath and Brett Lee flexed their arms by 12, 13 and 14-15 degrees respectively, although it is unclear as to where Muralitharan quoted these figures from. Muralitharan was censured by the Sri Lankan Cricket Board for these comments.

The ICC Executive was asked to ratify the panel's recommendations at the ICC's Annual General Meeting in February 2005. Based on the recommendations the ICC issued a new guideline (which was effective from 1 March 2005) allowing for extensions or hyperextensions of up to 15 degrees for all types of bowlers, thus deeming Muralitharan's doosra to be legal.

Explaining why the maximum level of 15 degrees was arrived at, panel member Angus Fraser stated "That is the number which biomechanics says that it (straightening) becomes visible. It is difficult for the naked eye to see less than 15 degrees in a bowler's action. We found when the biceps reached the shoulder the amount of bend was around 165 degrees. Very few bowlers can get to 180 degrees because the joint doesn't allow that. ...... but once you go further than 15 degrees you get into an area which is starting to give you an unfair advantage and you are breaking the law".

Fourth round of testing

On 2 February 2006, Muralitharan underwent a fourth round of biomechanical testing. There had been criticism that the previous round of tests in July 2004 did not replicate match conditions due to a slower bowling speed in the laboratory tests. The results showed that the average elbow flexation while bowling the 'doosra' delivery was 12.2 degrees, at an average of 53.75 mph (86 km/h). The average for his off-break was 12.9 degrees at 59.03 mph (99.45 km/h).

Bowling with an arm brace

In July 2004 Muralitharan was filmed in England, bowling with an arm brace on. The film was shown on Britain's Channel 4 during the Test against England on 22 July 2004. The documentary is not available for purchase and has not been aired in Australia.

Initially, Muralitharan bowled three balls - the off-spinner, the top-spinner and the doosra - as he would in a match. Then he bowled the same three balls with a brace that is made from steel bars, which are set into strong resin. This brace has been moulded to his right arm, is approximately 46 centimetres long and weighs just under 1 kilogram.

TV presenter Mark Nicholas who tried the brace himself, confirmed that "There is no way an arm can be bent, or flexed, when it is in this brace." All three balls reacted in the same way as when bowled without the brace. They were not bowled quite so fast because the weight of the brace restricts the speed of Muralitharan's shoulder rotation, but the spin was still there.

With the brace on, there still appeared to be a jerk in his action. When studying the film at varying speeds, it still appeared as if he straightened his arm, even though the brace makes it impossible to do so. His unique shoulder rotation and amazing wrist action seem to create the illusion that he straightens his arm.

The off spinner said the exercise was to convince a sceptical public rather than sway an ICC investigation into bowling actions launched after he was reported by match referee Chris Broad for his doosra delivery in March 2004, the third time action has been taken on his bowling. In an interview for August 2004 edition of Wisden Asia Cricket, Muralitharan stated "I think it will prove a point to those who had said that it was physically impossible to bowl a ball that turned the other way. I proved that it was possible to bowl the doosra without bending the arm."

Critics and converts

Two vocal critics of Muralitharan's action have been former Test cricketers, Australian Dean Jones and Bishan Bedi, the former Indian captain.

Michael Holding, the former West Indian fast bowler was also a critic of Muralitharan, but withdrew his criticisms under the light of the tests carried out. Holding has been quoted as being in "110% agreement" with Bedi, who likened Murali's action to a "javelin throw and more recently, compared to a "shot putter". Following the ICC study, as a member of the panel that conducted the study, Holding stated, "The scientific evidence is overwhelming... When bowlers who to the naked eye look to have pure actions are thoroughly analysed with the sophisticated technology now in place, they are likely to be shown as straightening their arm by 11 and in some cases 12 degrees. Under a strict interpretation of the Law, these players are breaking the rules. The game needs to deal with this reality and make its judgment as to how it accommodates this fact.

In May 2002, Adam Gilchrist, speaking at a Carlton (Australian) Football Club luncheon, claimed Muralitharan's action does not comply with the Laws of cricket. The Melbourne-based Age newspaper quoted Gilchrist as saying."Yeah, I think he does (chuck), and I say that because, if you read the Laws of the game, there's no doubt in my mind that he and many others, throughout cricket history have. These comments were made before the doosra controversy, in spite of Muralitharan's action having been cleared by ICC in both 1996 and 1999. For his outburst Gilchrist was reprimanded by the Australian Cricket Board (ACB) and found guilty of being in breach of ACB rules concerned with "detrimental public comment".

During the 2006 tour of New Zealand another Muralitharan critic, former New Zealand captain and cricket commentator Martin Crowe called for Muralitharan's doosra to be monitored more closely, asserting that his action seemed to deteriorate during a match. Earlier that year when delivering the Cowdrey lecture at Lords Martin Crowe had demanded zero tolerance instead of 15 degrees for throwing and specifically branded Muttiah Muralitharan a chucker. In response to Crowe's criticism ICC general manager David Richardson stated that the scientific evidence presented by biomechanists Professor Bruce Elliot, Dr Paul Hurrion and Mr Marc Portuswith was overwhelming and clarified that "Some bowlers, even those not suspected of having flawed actions, were found likely to be straightening their arms by 11 or 12 degrees. And at the same time, some bowlers that may appear to be throwing may be hyper-extending or bowl with permanently bent elbows. Under a strict interpretation of the law, they were breaking the rules - but if we ruled out every bowler that did that then there would be no bowlers left.

Batting

An aggressive lower order batsman who usually bats at No. 11, Muralitharan is known for his tendency to back away to leg and slog. Sometimes, he can be troublesome for bowlers because of his unorthodox and adventurous batting ways. Once, in a test match against England, while playing Alex Tudor, he moved back towards his leg stump trying to hook the ball and ended up lying on the ground sideways after the shot. His famous runout against New Zealand is also well remembered. His partner Sangakkara hit a single on the legside and reached his hundred and started to celebrate it raising his bat; Muralitharan upon completing the run rushed out of the crease to congratulate his partner while the ball was still in play. The opposition ran him out and the umpire too ruled so as Muralitharan was out of his crease while congratulating his partner! His highest Test score of 67 came against India at Kandy in 2001, including three sixes and five fours. He has made valuable scores on occasion, including 30 runs against England at the Oval in 1998, including 5 fours, 38 runs (4 fours, 1 six) against England at Galle in 2003, 43 runs (5 fours, 3 sixes) against Australia at Kandy in 2004 and 36 runs against the West Indies at Colombo in 2005. Muralitharan has a strike rate close to 70 in test cricket and has scored over 55% of his test runs in fours and sixers.

Muralitharan together with Chaminda Vaas holds the record for the highest 10th wicket partnership in tests for Sri Lanka. The pair put on 79 runs for the last wicket at the Asgiriya Stadium against Australia in March 2004. Muralitharan also holds the record for scoring most runs in test cricket, while batting at the number 11 position.

Philanthropy

Muralitharan, along with his manager Kushil Gunasekara, established the Foundation of Goodness, a charity organisation, in the early 2000s. This organisation is committed to the wellbeing of the Seenigama region (in southern Sri Lanka) and supports local communities through a range of projects across areas including children’s needs, education and training, healthcare and psycho-social support, housing, livelihoods, sport and the environment.

In June 2004, Muralitharan also joined the United Nations World Food Program as an ambassador to fight hunger among school children.

When the tsunami devastated Sri Lanka on 26 December 2004, Muralitharan galvanised into action to ensure that aid reached people that needed it. He himself narrowly escaped death, arriving 20 minutes late at Seenigama, where he was to give away prizes at one of the charity projects he worked on. While international agencies were bringing food in by air, there was an urgent need for transport, and Murali organised three convoys of 10 trucks each, paying for these himself, to get the food to people who needed it. He persuaded those who could to donate clothes, and supervised the delivery himself.

During the hard work of rehabilitation in the tsunami’s aftermath, cement was in short supply. Muralitharan promptly signed an endorsement deal with Lafarge, a global cement giant, that was a straight barter, where cement would be supplied to the Foundation for Goodness in exchange for work Muralitharan did. During the first three years since the tsunami, the foundation raised more than US$ 4 million to help survivors, and has built homes, schools, sports facilities and computer centres.

World records and achievements

Muttiah Muralitharan holds a number of world records, and several firsts:

The most Test wickets (746 wickets as of 27 July 2008).
The highest number of international wickets in Tests and ODIs combined (1187 wickets as of 19 March 2008).
The most 5-wicket hauls in an innings at Test level (65).
The most 10-wicket hauls in a match at Test level (21). He is the only player to take 10 wickets/match against every Test playing nation.
Fastest to 350, 400, 450, 500, 550, 600, 650 and 700 Test wickets, in terms of matches played.
Only player to take 10 wickets in a Test in four consecutive matches. He has achieved this feat twice.
Only player to take 50 or more wickets against every Test playing nation.
Muralitharan and Jim Laker (England), are the only bowlers to have taken 9 wickets in a Test innings twice.
7 wickets in an innings against the most countries (5).
Most Test wickets taken bowled (157), stumped (41) and caught & bowled (31). Bowled by Muralitharan (b Muralitharan) is the most common dismissal in Test cricket (excluding run out).
Most successful bowler/fielder (non-wicket keeper) combination - c. Mahela Jayawardene b. Muttiah Muralitharan (67).
Most Man of the Series awards in Test cricket (11).
One of only six bowlers who have dismissed all the eleven batsmen in a Test match. Jim Laker, Srinivasaraghavan Venkataraghavan, Geoff Dymock, Abdul Qadir and Waqar Younis are the others.
Most test wickets in a single ground. Muralitharan is the only bowler to capture 100-plus Test wickets at two venues, the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground in Colombo and the Asgiriya Stadium in Kandy.
The only bowler to take 75 or more wickets in a calendar year on three occasions, achieving it in 2000, 2001 and 2006.

Test wicket milestones

1st: Craig McDermott lbw 9 vs Australia - Match #1 - Test #1195
50th: Navjot Sidhu caught Ruwan Kalpage 43 vs India - Match #13 - Test #1247
100th: Stephen Fleming bowled 59 vs New Zealand - Match #27 - 1359
150th: Guy Whittall caught sub (Mahela Jayawardene) 17 vs Zimbabwe - Match #36 - Test #1395
200th: Ben Hollioake lbw 0 vs England - Match #42 - Test #1423
250th: Naved Ashraf lbw 27 vs Pakistan - Match #51 - Test #1489
300th: Shaun Pollock caught Tillakaratne Dilshan 11 vs South Africa - Match #58 - Test #1526
350th: Mohammad Sharif caught and bowled 19 vs Bangladesh - Match #66 - Test #1561
400th: Henry Olonga bowled 0 vs Zimbabwe - Match #72 - Test #1585
450th: Daryl Tuffey caught Sanath Jayasuriya 1 vs New Zealand - Match #80 - Test #1644
500th: Michael Kasprowicz bowled 0 vs Australia - Match #87 - Test #1688
520th: Mluleki Nkala caught Mahela Jayawardena 24 vs Zimbabwe - Match #89 - Test #1698 - Breaks Courtney Walsh's world record
550th: Khaled Mashud caught Thilan Samaraweera 2 vs Bangladesh - Match #94 - Test #1764
600th: Khaled Mashud caught Lasith Malinga 6 vs Bangladesh - Match #101 - Test #1786
650th: Makhaya Ntini caught Farveez Maharoof 13 vs South Africa - Match #108 - Test #1812
700th: Syed Rasel caught Farveez Maharoof 4 vs Bangladesh - Match #113 - Test #1839
709th: Paul Collingwood bowled 45 vs England - Match #116 - Test #1851 - Breaks Shane Warne's world record
750th: Sourav Ganguly stumped Prasanna Jayawardene 16 vs India - Match #122 - Test #1884

Scientific publications

Since 1999 there has been a number of scientific research publications discussing the Muralitharan's bowling action as well the need for defining the legality of a bowling action using biomechanical concepts. This research has directly contributed towards the official acceptance of Muralitharan's bowling action and has convinced the ICC to redefine the bowling laws in cricket.

The key publications are listed below:

Elliot, B.C., Alderson, J., Reid, S. and Foster, D. (2004). Bowling Report of Muttiah Muralitharan.
Ferdinands, R.E.D. (2004). Three-dimensional biomechanical analysis of bowling in cricket. PhD Thesis, University of Waikato.
Ferdinands, R.E.D. and Kersting, U.G. (2004). Elbow Angle Extension and implecation for the legality of the bowling action in Cricket. In A McIntosh (Ed.), Proceedings of Australasian Biomechanic Conference 5 (9 December-10), University of New South Wales, Sydney, pp. 26-27.
Ferdinands, R.E.D. and Kersting, U.G. (2007). An evaluation of biomechanical measures of bowling action legality in cricket. Sports Biomechanics, Volume 6, Issue 3 September 2007, pages 315 - 333
Goonetilleke, R.S. (1999). Legality of bowling actions in cricket. Ergonomics, 42 (10), 1386-1397.
Lloyd, D. G., Alderson, J. and Elliot, B.C.(2000). An upper limb kinamatic for the examination of cricket bowling: A case study of Muttiah Muralitharan. Journal of Sports Sciences, 18, 975-982.
Marshall, R. and Ferdinands R. (2003). The effect of a flexed elbow on bowling speed in circket. Sports Biomechanics, 2(1), 65-71.
Portus, M., Mason, B., Rath, D. and Rosemond, C. (2003). Fast bowling arm actions and the illegal delivery law in men's high performance cricket matches. Science and Medicine in Cricket. R. Stretch, T. Noakes and C. Vauhan (Eds.), Com Press, Ports Elizabeth, South Africa, pp. 41-54.