COLOMBO (Sri Lanka) - As should be expected of someone shooting from the lip, if not the hip, sacked Australian umpire Ross Emerson has revived his status symbol as public enemy number one in the corner of the Asian sub-continent.

Emerson's doubts about off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan's action re-launched his headline grabbing career in January this year when he called the bowler at the Adelaide Oval in a limited-overs game against England.

That particular incident apart and the ensuing row between Ranatunga and the West Australian umpire, this particular United Carleton Breweries day/night slog was full of blemishes: and most of it coming from the Sri Lankans. We had scenes of petulance, shoulder charging by the now retired Roshan Mahanama and the sort of language you would expect from the yobbos which inhabit the soccer club terraces in England.

Muralitharan's wonky elbow action has long been the cause of much controversy and argument although it had been cleared by the International Cricket Council's committee charged with monitoring bowlers with suspect actions. He arrives from England next week shortly before the start of the three nations tournament.

There are, however, mixed signals emerging from Sri Lanka circles.

Naturally they are 'upset' at what they see as Emerson's slur, especially with the Aiawa Cup tournament, hosted by Sri Lanka and involving Australia and India, only 11 days away.

Yet 'upset' is the sort polite diplomatic jargon expected to cool tempers at a crucial time and the three English daily papers yesterday carried reports of how the Australian Cricket Board had disowned Emerson's comments. It was also one of the main sports page items of such papers as Gulf News a couple of days ago.

What the public feel is more in keeping with placing a cut out of Emerson's face on a dart board and shooting off a round of AK47 than throwing darts. There is some anger among the players as well, and of course the BCCSL are 'highly p...ed off' if the comments of Dhammika Ranatunga, the board's CEO, are taken to describe the term 'upset'.

Local commentators, however, feel the latest controversy has been stirred, rather than rattled, to drum up support for the former World Cup champions during a shaky period of BCCSL administration as three court cases loom over the election of the board last April.

``Disappointing as they are Emerson's comments has enabled the board to deflect public scrutiny of their problems and the disappointment of this year's World Cup results,'' said Ranjan Paranavithana, of the non-establishment The Island daily.

``Of course Sri Lankans are upset. He has been cleared by the ICC of throwing and now this guy is raking over long dead coals hoping to hurt Murali,'' the senior sports writer added.

Paranavithana is not as paranoid as most in this country over the controversy surrounding the latest barrage of Muralitharan 'bashing'. One of the Sri Lankans who braved the chills in England during the weeks of the World Cup he admits the off-spinner had a poor tournament return.

``It is going to be interesting to see how his success in England has managed to motivate him for this coming triangular series.

``I do not need to tell you that we need a balanced bowling attack if Sri Lanka hope to reach the final at the end of the month. They need a new Muralist to bolster to attack,'' Paranavithana agreed.