Muralitharan's bowling action is controversial amongst the cricket community, with concerns raised as to whether he contravenes the laws of the game by straightening his right arm further than is allowed while bowling. The controversy came to a head after Australian umpire Darrell Hair called a "no ball" for an illegal action seven times during the Boxing Day Test match in Melbourne, Australia, in 1995. Former Australian batsman, Sir Donald Bradman, was quoted as saying it was the "worst example of umpiring that [he had] witnessed, and against everything the game stands for. Clearly Murali does not throw the ball".
Muralitharan was later no-balled for throwing by Australian umpires Ross Emerson and Tony McQuillan in a One-Day International against the West Indies, in Brisbane, Australia, during the same summer. Following the end of the season, Muralitharan underwent biomechanical tests in Hong Kong and Australia under the supervision of bowling experts, who cleared his action as legal, citing a congenital defect in Muralitharan's arm which makes him incapable of straightening it any further, but giving the appearance of the arm "straightening". Doubts about Muralitharan's action persisted however, and in 1999 he was once again called for throwing by Ross Emerson during a One Day International against England at the Adelaide Oval in Australia. The Sri Lankan team almost abandoned the match, but after instructions from the president of the Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka, the game resumed. It later emerged that at the time of this match Emerson was on sick leave from his job due to a stress-related illness, and he stood down for the rest of the series. Muralitharan has voiced his frustration at routinely being heckled by Australian crowds who accuse him of throwing - one common jeer directed at him was "No Ball!".
Muralitharan continued bowling however, taking his 500th Test wicket in the second Test against Australia in Kandy on March 16, 2004. At the end of the series his doosra delivery was officially called into question by match referee Chris Broad and Muralitharan was entered into a two-stage remedial process for bowlers with suspect actions under the supervision of the International Cricket Council ('ICC'). The delivery was examined by biomechanical experts who found it to exceed the current tolerance limit, regarding the degree of bend in the arm, of five degrees for slow bowlers.
An extensive ICC study, the results of which were released in November 2004, was conducted to investigate the 'chucking issue'. A panel of former Test players, with the assistance of several biomechanical experts, revealed that 99% of all bowlers straighten their arms when bowling. Only one player in the world (part-time bowler Ramnaresh Sarwan) did not transgress the rules when tested. Muralitharan's off break and topspinner were deemed within the rules (2 to 5 degree straightening), but the doosra was still an area of concern.[citation needed] The results of the study led to the ICC issuing a new guideline allowing for extensions or hyperextensions of up to 15 degrees thus deeming Muralitharan's doosra to be legal.
Three vocal critics of Muralitharan's action are former Test cricketers: West Indian Michael Holding, a member of the ICC's Advisory Panel on Illegal Deliveries, Australian Dean Jones and Bishan Bedi, the former India captain. Holding has been quoted as being in "110% agreement" with Bedi, who likened Murali's action to a "javelin throw". Following the ICC study, as a member of the panel that conducted the study, Holding stated, "The scientific evidence is overwhelming... When bowlers who to the naked eye look to have pure actions are thoroughly analysed with the sophisticated technology now in place, they are likely to be shown as straightening their arm by 11 and in some cases 12 degrees. Under a strict interpretation of the law, these players are breaking the rules. The game needs to deal with this reality and make its judgment as to how it accommodates this fact."
