KEY POINTS:
I hate concurring with Shane Warne but I guess with time, the hurt fades and the basic human instinct for revenge occupies the mind less frequently.
Then again, Warne's latest media foray has made so much sense, I've had to put aside my emotionally driven need to argue with the great spin bowler and agree with his comments about the other great spin bowler.
Yes, Muttiah Muralitharan's bowling action should be tested under test match conditions. In fact, every suspect bowler should be tested under match conditions.
Let's get something clear: I am not calling Murali a cheat. Murali does what comes naturally to him and I don't expect him to do anything differently.
However, throw him in an unnatural setting like a laboratory or put him in an arm-brace and then perhaps he may do something that is not completely natural.
Murali has been tested, re-tested, poked and prodded for the past decade. But all that the laboratory examinations and bowling in the nets with his arm in a brace has done is prove he can bowl within stipulated arm-flexion limitations.
These tests do not prove that under the pressure of top-level cricket, he does not revert to what comes naturally to him - and that maybe at times he bowls outside the 15-degree toleration of flexion. In layman's terms, does he chuck when he plays?
Cricketers, golfers, whatever you do in practice and in controlled environments, you'll make alterations to your technique. There is no sense of competition and you can concentrate totally on your bodily movements.
But what happens when you step on the first tee, or after a run of bogeys, or facing an uncomfortably fast bowler? Or what about when Ricky Ponting is on top and you need to keep him in check?
It's my bet you fall back on all those nasty little habits that have been ingrained in competition over the years. It is simply the natural thing to happen.
Leave out-of-competition testing solely to drug agencies and get real when it comes to chucking.
Look, Murali may be within the limits permitted and I hope he is because I want to celebrate a great champion but I would find that hard if his natural competitive delivery provides an unfair advantage.
You cannot tell me the resources are not available to the International Cricket Council to equip all televised internationals with super-slow-motion cameras and develop video analysis software that allows match referees to assess the legality of bowlers.
Warnings could be issued on the spot and repeat offenders removed from the match.
Perhaps the ICC don't really want to because this fluid and dynamic process would not just have to be accepted by the players but by players' legal advisers too.
