The first test match of the England v Sri Lanka series begins tomorrow at Kandy. Mutthiah Muralitharan is four wickets shy of Shane Warne's all time Test record. 1 in 7 of Murali's Test wickets have come at the Asgiriya Stadium in Kandy (108 wickets at 16.06 in 15 Test matches). There won't be too many people betting against Muralitharan breaking Warne's record, even against the full English side. This will doubtless give new life the questions of chucking.
The current throwing law (Law 24(3)) states that "A ball is fairly delivered in respect of the arm if, once the bowler's arm has reached the level of the shoulder in the delivery swing, the elbow joint is not straightened partially or completely from that point until the ball has left the hand. This definition shall not debar a bowler from flexing or rotating the wrist in the delivery swing." A study of Biomechanics has revealed that it is infact impossible to bowl legally keeping in mind the above condition, and therefore, in the latest version, a 15 degree bend is allowed, based on the fact that in real time, a bend upto 15 degrees is not noticeable to the naked eye. It would seem then then that modern science has pointed out a flaw in the law.
The tragedy of the throwing law however is based on a far more fundamental misunderstanding of it. Throwing is equated with cheating, rather than with any technical shortcoming. This is quite astounding, and that throwing is not cheating is made abundantly clear by the fact that only successful bowlers with suspect actions are called cheats. James Kirtley was never called a cheat. Murali has. Shoaib has too. The common explanation of this phenomenon - racism, is both silly and unsatisfactory. The more plausible explanation is the most common cause of sporting discord - competitiveness.
The chucking law is especially important in the case of the fast bowlers, because batsmen tend to use the arc of the arm in picking the line of the ball (the ball itself is a red blur.... not nearly as clear as we see it on TV). When a fast bowler chucks, there is no clear arc for the batsman to follow. As explained by Colin Cowdrey in his autobiography, the ball appears "to come out of a muzzle rather than a sling". This impedes the batsman's ability to pick the line and length, and in the case of short pitched bowling, take evasive action.
Still, it is a technical issue, not one of cheating, just as the front foot bowling law. Arjuna Ranatunga's masterstroke in the Murali incident was to play on the insinuation that Murali was branded a "cheat". The Australian press fell for that, and as a result, to this day there are those who brand him a "cheat". In the meanwhile, Murali has gone on to take 704 Test wickets, without changing his action. He has even added the doosra, which by definition is delivered with a bent arm given the method Murali uses to turn the ball from leg to off (from the back of the hand with an off-spinners grip). This association of chucking with cheating has been damaging to cricket, mainly because it has meant that the issue could never be solved reasonably. Under the circumstances, the current law as it stands is a commendable accomplishment. The limitations on the umpires in its implementation are not.
Murali will finish his career as the greatest wicket taker in Test match history. His legacy however with forever be clouded by a "cheat" tag which he does not deserve. The chucker tag obviously does not hold either, because his action is legal from the point of view of the current law.