Within the laws but against the spirit

[RustyCage]

http://content-aus.cricinfo.com/columns/content/current/story/272534.html

Very interesting reading.

[McAlmanac]

How ironic to have an article entitled "Within the Laws but Against the Spirit" dealing with a dismissal of Muralitharan. Enough to make you chuck.

[Adelaide Hawk]

How ironic to have an article entitled "Within the Laws but Against the Spirit" dealing with a dismissal of Muralitharan. Enough to make you chuck.

The thing about Murali is his action wasn't even within the laws of the game. It was illegal. They actually changed the law to enable him to bowl. My annoyance is not with Murali, it is with the ICC who didn't understand that by allowing Murali's action they were opening doors for all sorts of questionable actions. I can see us returning to the ridiculous days of the late 50s and early 60s where chuckers came out of the woodwork, and just about every team had one.

While Murali still plays, the ICC can do nothing about it. They've painted themselves into a corner and cannot suspend anyone for chucking while the "King" of chuckers is alive. Mark my words, the moment Murali retires there will be a crack down on questionable actions, destroying the careers of all those young cricketers who have modelled their actions on Murali.

The ICC could have avoided all this by simply ensuring Murali re-model his action, and banning the Doosra. The ICC are idiots.

As for the "spirit" of the game ... we are in the age of professionalism, and very few players are interested in the spirit of the game any more, they will do everything within the laws of the game to succeed. Money does that to people. It always makes me laugh when I hear how a match was played in good spirits when I've sat and watched players sledging each other for 5 days