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The new white Messiah
From time immemorial Asian mystery men have baffled the poor whites, whether it be the rope trick, sitar music or the "doosra". However much they strive to come to terms with them, they have never been able to. Then what is the solution? The only solution is to find a way to counter it by hook or by crook.

From day one when Pakistan spinner Saqlain Mushtaq bowled his "doosra" the entire white world was bamboozled by it. Not even champion batsmen in their camp of the calibre of Graham Thorpe could come to terms with it. Following Mushtaq, the Lankan spinner Muttiah Muralitheran came to be a master of that art. Then quite lately the Indian spin ace Harbajan Singh also has become a wizard who bowls that "thing" which turns the other way.

So what did they do?
They had to find the Messiah who would deliver the goods. At this point they knew that they had to fight fire with fire. To do that they had to resort to the correct expedient. The person in search had to have the correct cricketing background, social background as well as the correct temperament even to smash up the wickets in the middle of a game if things were not moving to his liking.

Richard Sydenham who writes to the English newspaper -- the Daily Telegraph is convinced that the Messiah has arrived. In an article titled "Courage under fire will keep Broad true to his convictions", he writes -- " It was interesting, almost amusing, that Broad is now one of cricket's guardians of discipline.

His Ashes success apart, the moment he is best remembered for are for swatting the stumps with his bat after being dismissed at Sydney in 1988 and for refusing to walk after being given out caught behind in Lahore in 1987. He said he would have acted the same way even if there had been a match referee like at present.

Last year in 2004 when the Australians took wing to Sri Lanka for their away series Chris Board was picked to stand in as match referee and at the final day of the series Mr. Broad -- a novice at the job-then reported about Muttiah Muralitharan's 'doosra' and flew out of the country the same night.

Prior to that Muralitharan has spun a web around his countrymen when they last visited Sri Lanka and condemned to a 1-0 series loss which would have read 3-0 if Sri Lanka had the correct leadership at that time. In that series Murali gobbled 26 English wickets at the cost of 532 runs in the three Tests and most of his wickets he claimed with his "doosra".

The 'doosra' was becoming a menace and it had to be stopped at any cost. In their search. They soon found 'cowboy' Chris who already had failed in broadcasting and printing. For a man who is struggling in murky waters even a straw is as valuable as a rafter.

Then a few months after the English debacle in Sri Lanka, former England opening batsman Chris Broad who won the Ashes for them with three centuries called Muralitharan for chucking while delivering the 'doosra'.

Meanwhile in England the ICC championship was coming on. Prior to the tournament the call was that all bowlers with suspect actions beware, because all bowlers taking part in this tournament will be under the camera and every one will be scrutinized. Yes, the championship came on and as said, the scrutiny too went on. The revelation was unexpected. Now the hierarchy found out that the majority of the leading bowlers on earth had a 'crick' in their elbows. So very soon they brought on the amendment to the existing law -- now the tolerance level for all bowlers stands at 15 degrees.

Muttiah Muralitharan in the aftermath of his calling flew across to Australia, worked with the bio-mechanics there and got his arm on to less then 15 degrees while delivering the 'doosra', but has not played any serious cricket since owing to injury to his bowling arm.

In the meantime Indian spinner Harbajan Singh who was called once for his 'doosra' got the all clear from the ICC panel working with them, but, during the India-Pakistan series reported him once again. Now the question is who is right? Will Murali be called again while bowling the 'doosra' on his return to cricket. I am sure he will be when you access the current situation.

Towards Broad's defence Sydenham writes in his column -- "Broad correctly points out it's not just him who takes a stance, as both on-field umpires also indentified bowling action illegalities. The ICC may have to convene another committee meeting in Dubai to conclude the fate of the 'doosra', but for now it is in the hands of the likes of Broad.

Finally only one question is there to be asked. On the elite umpires panel how many are the Asian umpires? The answer is only Aleem Darr from Pakistan.

The others come from lands other than the Asian sub-continent where the 'doosra' is not prevalent. No one has to walk through history to learn what umpires like Darrel Hair and Steve Bucknor feel inside about some of the Asian bowlers leave alone the 'doosra'.

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