The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : It’s time to legalise the doosra

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It’s time to legalise the doosra

The doosra has brought variety and amusement to the game, writes
Peter Roebuck

Maybe it’s time to legalise the doosra. Murali’s extraordinary flexibility and wrist-work makes him able to rotate his elbow sideways and twist his wrist sufficiently to remain within the limits. Arguably he has twice proved his point by putting his arm in a brace, surrounding himself with sceptics, letting the cameras roll and producing all three of his offerings live on television. His performance at least confirmed that he can deliver the offie, toppie and doosra with a straight arm. Now let the rest try their luck, fast bowlers and spinners alike!

Mere mortals are not so well endowed. No matter how rubbery — and subcontinental bones and brains are not nearly as stiff as their western counterparts — the arm inescapably straightens significantly whilst releasing the doosra. Otherwise it cannot be propelled with the required vigour. But spinners know they cannot discard it and survive. Top bowlers must move the ball in both directions or else they are cannon fodder. Once the novelty had worn off, leg-spinners were forced to develop the googly or else face the consequences.

Old hat

In the past off-spinners relied on cleverly-disguised arm balls to fool batsmen but they seem to have become old hat. Daniel Vettori and Bishen Bedi have mastered the ‘armer’ but most modern spinners prefer to work off the pitch.

Doubtless it is hard making an impression in a world of huge bats, short boundaries and pitches rolled into submission. The art of our necessities is strange and can make vile things precious.

Amongst budding spinners, the doosra has provoked the same interest as did reverse swing amongst pacemen. Here was hope in a hostile land! Admittedly Ajantha Mendis has charted an alternative course but he is a freakish spinner from Sri Lanka unknowingly renewing a tradition that seemed to have died out with John Gleeson.

Everyone else has been forced to add the doosra to their repertoire or else seek other employment. Cricket has always belonged to the batsmen.

Now the acceptability of the doosra has been questioned by the usual hordes of moaning batsmen and barrack room lawyers! In the last few weeks the doosras sent down by two orthodox tweakers, a South African and a Pakistani, have been condemned. Both were playing against Australia. Both must undergo tests and undertake rehabilitation along the lines laid out in the ICC’s admirable programme — throwing has always been contentious and at least the ICC is trying to deal with it calmly and constructively.

Purpose of the law

But is the doosra really a chuck? Ask any child to throw the ball and he or she will hurl it forwards. At worst the doosra is a back chuck. The purpose of the law was to make the contest between bat and ball fair and somewhat safe by stopping fast bowlers throwing the ball at batsmen’s heads.

Beamers are frowned upon for the same reason. By and large chuckers have been ditched. Usually it has required intervention from alarmed Boards following a period of excess and meek umpiring, but dubious fast bowlers have rarely lasted longer than a few campaigns.

Banning throwing was not intended to stop bowlers turning their arms and flicking from the back of their hand. No one can be hurt by a back chuck. It’s merely a means of spinning the ball the other way. The doosra has brought variety and amusement to the game. And if the action is so different why cannot batsmen spot the change?

By all means stop genuine throws but let’s not take all the fun from the game. A back chuck is not a chuck at all. If Johan Botha throws his off-break, so be it. If not, let him be.

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