Michael Holding "is in 110% agreement" with Bishen Bedi's controversial opinions on chucking. Holding, a member of ICC's Advisory Panel on Illegal Deliveries, made his remarks in an interview in April's edition of Wisden Asia Cricket. "The laws are very specific," said Holding. "A bowler's arm, once it gets to shoulder height, should stay straight until delivery. If it's bent, then it should remain bent to the same degree and should never alter."

"The law says nothing about hyper-extended bent or abnormal bent," he added, in a clear reference to the high-profile cases of Shoaib Akhtar and Muttiah Muralitharan.

Bob Woolmer, ICC's high-performance manager, was also sceptical about Murali's action, but stopped short of a direct accusation of throwing.

"I agree … that Muralitharan's action is false for a finger-spinner," said Woolmer. "He uses excessive wrist action which is only possible with a straightening of the arm. I doubt that his disability is the sole cause of his bowling action."

Woolmer suggested that the ICC's throwing committee took a more technical stance, by studying the actions of the new breed of offspinner. "Harbhajan [Singh] and Saqlain [Mushtaq] wouldn't be able to bowl the away-going ball without bending the arm," he added.

There was, however, support for Murali and co. from Carl Hooper and Mudassar Nazar, the Pakistan coach. "I just don't subscribe to Bishan's extreme views," said Mudassar. "If somebody is handicapped, you cannot tell him that he has no place in society."

A offspinner himself, Hooper expressed admiration for Murali, Harbhajan and Saqlain. "It took a year of concerted effort for Murali to master the away-going ball," he said. "At the end of the day it's the authorities who have to judge on the legality of the actions."

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