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MURALI CLEARED YET AGAIN
Sri Lanka's star spinner Muttiah Muralitharan has had his bowling action cleared again by laboratory tests. His two main deliveries were checked in Perth on Thursday and results released yesterday, showing he fell under the 15-degree limit of elbow flexing.

"From this test they should realise I'm a normal bowler, like others," he said. "I'm not doing something wrong. We tested in match conditions, speed and everything, so they should respect me as a bowler."

Muralitharan, 33, has 584 Test wickets, second only to Australia's Shane Warne, and 406 in one-day internationals. He has been taunted by Australian crowds since he was first no-balled during Sri Lanka's Boxing Day Test against Australia in Melbourne in 1995.

Since then he has been checked and cleared four times by experts at the University of Western Australia, who carry out testing on behalf of the International Cricket Council. A successful shoulder operation last year allowed him to increase his bowling speed, but that raised fears he could be in breach of ICC rules.

There has also been criticism that his last round of tests, in April 2004, did not replicate match conditions. But the latest version, under biomechanics expert Professor Bruce Elliott, showed his average elbow extension while bowling the 'doosra' leg-break delivery at an average of 53.75 mph was 12.2 degrees. The average for his off-break was 12.9 degrees at 59.03 mph.

"There's nothing more he could do," Elliott said. "The latest testing shows, irrespective of whether he's bowling a doosra or an off-break, all his deliveries were under 15 degrees, so none were illegal."

Muralitharan he was again contemplating not returning to Australia because of the abuse he receives, stating "99%" of the taunts over his action occur in Australia. He received an "unofficial reprimand" from the ICC for raising a middle finger towards a spectator whose face was painted black and who had "no ball" written across his chest.

He said the taunts he received were not racially motivated but added: "Every time I bowl they shout it from the grounds, every time I go near the boundary line they say things, so they are not accepting me. Sometimes you feel: Why do I want to come and play?"

Caption: Every time I go near the boundary line they say things, so they are not accepting me --Muttiah Muralitharan

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