COLOMBO, May 19: Sri Lanka's prime minister on Wednesday vowed to drum up South Asian support and sue the International Cricket Council (ICC) over a decision to outlaw Muttiah Muralitharan's controversial doosra delivery.
Premier Mahinda Rajapakse said he would meet envoys of Bangladesh, India and Pakistan to seek support for Sri Lanka's defence of the star off-spinner, who has been described as a "chucker" by Australian Prime Minister John Howard.
He brushed aside ICC chief Ehsan Mani's advice to both prime ministers to stay out of the Muralitharan row and allow the ICC to deal with the situation. Howard remarked on Friday he believed Muralitharan was a chucker, prompting the world record-smashing spinner to consider boycotting Sri Lanka's tour of Australia in July.
Rajapakse then reacted to Howard's remarks by announcing his intention to sue the ICC, but Mani said he had no concerns over the ICC's banning of Muralitharan's doosra, a delivery that spins away from the right-handers.
"I don't know the basis of how we'd be sued, but all our regulations are fully supported by all our members," Mani said, referring to the fact that the Sri Lankan board is part of the ICC.
Rajapakse told reporters he would also be consulting lawyers on Thursday on action to be initiated against the ICC. "What we are doing is not politics," Rajapakse said. "It is my duty to protect one of our national treasures. Muralitharan is not only the pride of Sri Lanka, but the entire region."
Rajapakse said Muralitharan, the most successful bowler in Test history with 527 wickets, was a national asset and he would do everything within his power and that of the government to defend the bowler.
Muralitharan, whose unorthodox action has seen him being no-balled for 'throwing' in the past, came under fresh scrutiny because of the doosra. The bowler was told last week that if he persisted with it he could face a year-long ban. -AFP
