ICC has appalling standards for judging bowling actions

Having got more than 500 wickets in almost 14 years of cricket, it's ridiculous to suspect Murali's action, writes Javagal Srinath.

Many Records were made in the past few months in Test cricket. While batsmen scored tons of runs, bowlers reached remarkable milestones. Cricketers from Australia, West Indies and Sri Lanka have re-written the history books in both departments of the game.

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Brian Charles Lara snatched one away from Mathew Hayden by scoring a mammoth 400 runs in one innings at St. John’s. Hayden, who pinched the record from Lara late last year, would have never dreamt about his record being challenged, so soon.

In fact, Lara had earlier said in an interview that he was going to get back his record. And he kept his words. Only Lara could have done that, and in doing it for the second time, I am sure, he will guard his record till the end of his playing days. If need be, Lara is capable of challenging his own record in the next few years.

A consortium of different island nations, the West Indies, is marred by internal problems both in the team and the cricket board. Yet, it is amazing to see their players scaling new heights. The West Indies team, I feel, can still regain their past glory, which started in the mid-70s.

But it can only happen if they breed a culture of togetherness in the team. They have plenty of resources, but poor management is the real issue in West Indian cricket.

Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan are the other two players, who are locked in a neck and neck battle. Having already crossed the 500-wicket mark, the duo is currently chasing each other to surpass Courtney Walsh's record. It will be really interesting to see who ends up with most wickets in the end.

Unfortunately, Murali's right arm has been brought under the microscope, once again. Having got more than 500 wickets in a span of almost 14 years of international cricket, it's ridiculous to suspect his action at this juncture.

ICC has appalling standards to check the issues of action. Any bowler who has a suspect action is sent to Perth or London for check ups-cum-corrections and within a few days he comes out clean.

Frankly, we cricketers don't get to see any pronounced change in the corrected actions. In my opinion, there are few more bowlers in international cricket whose actions are blatantly wrong.

Then, why catch Murali alone and let all others go scot-free? In a way, ICC seems blindfolded. Only a bowling action committee, formed with bowlers from different countries, can be fair to the game by calling a spade a spade.

One of my favourite bowlers, Waqar Younis has finally bid goodbye to cricket. A tearaway pace bowler on the field but a genial and warm person outside, Waqar had fans all over the world, which included yours truly and Sanjay Manjrekar. We both used to be his great admirers.

Waqar's run up to the wicket and his effort in the delivery stage was a treat to watch. The ‘master of reverse swing’ made every team shiver in terror with his lightening pace and movement.

The present Pakistani bowlers are not even a shade of what Waqar was in his hey days.

My first interaction with Waqar was in 1994 in Sri Lanka. I had a long chat with him, and he even asked me to try his match boots, to see if I felt comfortable. Bowlers always face a lot of problems with the bowling boots. Waqar and Wasim Akram were the source of inspiration for many bowlers in India.

A committed man, Waqar has had a wonderful career and is rightly called the leader of Pakistani bowlers along with Imran Khan and Akram. I wish my friend Waqar a great life after cricket.