Can a layman as an umpire be the sole judge on throwing?
That question has been posed by Dr. Ravindra Goonetilleke, who is one of few people who have tested Sri Lanka's no. 1 spinner Muthiah Muralitharan after the bowler was called for throwing in the last overseas Test series played by Sri Lanka against Australia in 1995-96.
With Sri Lanka due to undertake a Test tour of New Zealand today (Saturday), their first since the traumatic one in Australia, the arrival of Dr. Goonetilleke on a short holiday from where he is based - Hong Kong, gave me the opportunity to speak to him on Muralitharan.
Dr. Goonetilleke's view is that a layman as an umpire cannot be the sole judge on throwing.
"You cannot call a person for throwing without actual proof. Human eyes cannot conclusively condemn a man,'' said Dr. Goonetilleke.
Here's a time that technology has gone up to a level where we can easily use it, to prove or disprove some of the things. Especially, when there are equipment which are accurate, valid and reliable available, you cannot draw any conclusions unless you use the modern technology,'' he said.
Dr. Goonetilleke, who has a PhD in Ergonomics, a subject which deals with human machine interfaces, was pressed into service by Sports Minister S.B. Dissanayake, at the height of the Muralitharan `chucking' controversy. He tested the bowler with what is called an electro goniometer.
This simple device is attached to the elbow because everything is related to the elbow. A sensor, the size of a half of a rupee coin is attached to the finder so that you know exactly the point of release.
Law 24.2 (a) says throwing is defined as partial or complete straightening of the arm just preceding release of the ball.
"So I needed to know exactly where Muralitharan's point of release is. That is the reason why I attached a finger sensor. The finger sensor coupled with the angle measurement gave me exactly everything I need to know,'' he said.
"For the off-spin I put the sensor on his index finger and for the leg-spin on his ring finger. That's where he gets his spin. The last contact point for the leg-spin is on the ring finger and the last contact point for the off-spin is the index finger,'' explained Dr. Goonetilleke.
"Then I tested his arm ball which is a variation of his off-spin and also bowling close to the wicket and, away from the wicket, because these are the different styles of bowling Muralitharan has.
"In all of them, I found there is nothing wrong according to Law 24.2 (a). However, there is a subtlety involved here, which I agree with the ICC (International Cricket Council).
"Muralitharan can have a perfect action, but he can at the same time have a delivery where he can throw the ball. Anyone can do that and it is not only restricted to Muralitharan. I don't say he is throwing, but I think this is basically what the ICC is trying to cover up,'' said Dr. Goonetilleke.
"What I really tested was Muralitharan's action. There is nothing wrong with it. It is just that he has restricted range of motion on his elbow. As a result, most of the umpires are not used to seeing a restricted range of motion. So when his arm comes around it appears that he is straightening it.
"I tested him under three days and he has absolute consistency. The consistency between the days is remarkable. He can maintain the same action right throughout over five hours of testing each day. His action is natural.
"Muralitharan cannot straighten his arms fully. It is angled at 29 degrees. When I forced his arm I could get it to only 24 degrees. Nothing more than that.
"Muralitharan is at an disadvantage because the umpires are trying to say that he cannot bowl because he has this restriction. I think this is ridiculous. Umpires rely on experience to call a bowler, but there is no way to check whether that call is correct. Cricket laws don't have anything to say whether an umpire's call is correct or not,'' said Dr. Goonetilleke.
"If tests prove the umpire is wrong, the ICC wouldn't want to admit that. That is the reason why they want to keep an umpire and let him be the sole judge. I don't think that is correct. The ICC have realised that umpires cannot always make the right decision. That is why they have a third umpire,'' he said.
Dr. Goonetilleke was of the opinion that Muralitharan was trying to get rid of the deficiency in his arm by using the rest of his body.
"He is utilising his spine towards the maximum to get over his bent arm. By doing so, he is physically straining himself,'' observed the doctor.
"If he is going to bowl like this for another ten years, it is going to have an impact later in his life. He is going to have some spinal deficiency. I don't want to say it, but it is going to happen somewhere right down the line,'' he said.
Dr. Goonetilleke said the worst thing an umpire can possibly do is to call Muralitharan from behind.
"If he gets called from that position, the umpire is not seeing what he should be seeing. This is the problem. The umpire thinks the arm is straightening because it gets through such fast motion, something like .04 secs. If the umpire can spot that with his eyes, he has to be superhuman. The square leg umpire on the other hand, sees the same bend in Muralitharan's arm existing right through his motion,'' he said.
"Muralitharan is a spin bowler with somewhat slow motion. If you take a fast bowler there is absolutely no way that an umpire can call him for throwing from behind. On top of that, if you put on a baggy long sleeve shirt, there is no way you can see whether a bowl is straightening his arm or not,'' Dr. Goonetilleke said.
He was opposed to judging a bowler for throwing on video.
"You can take a bowler's action from different angles, but again you have a subjective evaluation, where someone has to actually look at the video and stand in judgment against the bowler,'' he said.
Dr. Goonetilleke, who is in Sri Lanka with his family for the golden wedding anniversary of his parents, said the Sri Lanka Cricket Board should take Muralitharan seriously and test him under match conditions with the modern equipment that is available.
"Then we can look at the actual measurement against the umpires call,'' he said. But the question is, when will the umpire call?