Murali cleared to bowl "doosra"

Sri Lanka spinner Muttiah Muralitharan has been cleared to bowl his controversial "doosra" under a recommendation from an International Cricket Council (ICC) committee, The Independent reported on Wednesday.

The delivery, a leg spinner bowled from the front of the hand, was outlawed as illegal by the ICC last May after a report concluded Muralitharan bent his arm during delivery.

Independent cricket correspondent Angus Fraser, a former England pace bowler and a member of the ICC committee, said it had recommended that bowlers be allowed to straighten their arms by 15 degrees during delivery.

"It replaces the existing rule, only introduced in 2001, which varied the amount of straightening allowed depending on the type of bowling," Fraser said. "Spinners were restricted to five degrees."

Muralitharan, the second-highest wicket taker in Test cricket with 532 victims, has been called twice for throwing.

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