Date-stamped : 02 Jan96 - 02:32 ICC MUST PLAY A STRAIGHTER BAT By Mahinda Wijesinghe Flippancy apart, certainly Muralitharan is not the first Sri Lankan bowler with a suspect action, but, he is certainly the most successful, hence the problems, which have been accentuated by the modern slow-motion cameras and video-technology. It is certain that more than a handful of particularly Australian bowlers of yesteryear - and I am not thinking of only Meckiff, Rorke, Burke, Slater and the famous aborigine, Eddie Gilbert - would not have passed muster if modern technology was available. So, let us look at the present problem objectively. Umpire Hair has quite categorically stated that if Mural- itharan bowled after tea on the third day of the Test he would have `called` him. ICC Secretary David Richards has issued a statement urging that the bowler take corrective action so that he can continue to represent his country, and that the ICC would help in any way towards this objective. In the wake of such a situation it would be, in my view, foolish to play him in the next Test, unless of course he can take remedial measures. In any event, the three wickets he has picked in the two Tests so far has cost him 348 runs. Therefore his `form` is also questionable. In view of the grave embarrassment caused to Sri Lanka by the cock-up regarding the `ball-tampering` affair, the ICC could at least come clean on this matter and make a ruling in a move de- finitive manner. Support from former Australian off-spinner Bruce Yardley who reckons Muralitharan as `the best off- spinner` he`s seen, reckons he definitely threw in 1991. West Indies skipper Richie Richard- son probably made the most il- luminating comment when he said: ``I don`t want to criticise the umpire but if he`s chucked that one he has thrown many more``. Finally, as their own hero Allan Border remarked: ``If they decide (the ICC) he`s legal, let him play out his career be- cause he`s played 23 Tests to date and hasn`t been called be- fore. You know, that`s a strange situation``. Source:: Lake House/Lanka Internet Services Contributed by vg (vpg0001@jove.acs.unt.edu)