| Player: | SK Warne, AA Mallett |
DateLine: 27th July 2009
Former Australian spinners have raised an alarm against coaching of the controversial 'doosra' in the country.
Spin wizard Shane Warne and Ashley Mallett have termed it nothing but 'chucking'.
Ever since its inception in international cricket, the 'doosra', a delivery that moves away from a right-hander as opposed to a conventional off-spinner, has raised a lot of hue and cry over its legitimacy.
Pakistan's Saqlain Mushtaq, is credited to have introduced it to world cricket, and leading wicket-taker Muttiah Muralitharan of Sri Lanka and India's Harbhajan Singh have used it to great advantage.
However, Australian spinners, including Warne, Stuart MacGill, Jim Higgs, Gavin Robertson, Terry Jenner, Peter Philpott and Ashley Mallett, voiced their concerns against the 'doosra' in a recent summit in Brisbane last month and questioned the legitimacy of the delivery.
"There was unanimous agreement that the off-spinner's other one', the doosra, should not be coached in Australia," Mallett wrote in the Adelaide Review today.
"I have never seen anyone actually bowl the doosra. It has to be a chuck.
"Until such time as the ICC declares that all manner of chucking is legal in the game of cricket I refuse to coach the doosra. All at the 'Spin Summit' agreed," he added.
