|What is 'chucking'?|
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Confused about chucking? Worried an umpire's going to call you up for a dodgy action?
The Sport Academy explains what this chucking business is about - and gives you a guide to a good old fashioned legal ball.
The best way to destroy a cricketer is tell to them they are a cheat or a 'chucker'.
In a survey of 100 top cricketers, 75% said that they were concerned about illegal bowling actions in the game.
But what exactly is chucking and how do we avoid it?
First we need to see what the laws of the game say.
Law 24, Section 3 says: "A ball is fairly delivered in respect to 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."
The graphic at the top of the page is an illustration of a legal ball - the bowlers arm remains straight.
Putting it simply, a throw (according to the rules of the game) is one that comes from the elbow.
Darts players, javelin throwers, shot-putters - they all bend the arm to get maximum leverage from it.
Bowlers must not or the umpire will call no-ball.
Muttiah Muralitharan, who has been put under scrutiny on many occasions, has a good excuse.
He has a slight deformity of his elbow, he is unable to straighten his arm.
You are allowed to have your arm bent, so long as it then does not straighten.
So although it may look like he is bending his limb when bowling, officials have decided, he is not.
This means his action is within the rules.
However, his "doosra", the ball that spins like a leg break, has been declared illegal because he bends his elbow more than the ICC regulations allow.
It's not just Murali who has been singled out for special attention
Other players such as Australia's Brett Lee, Pakistan's Shoaib Akhtar and India's Harbhajan Singh have also had the finger pointed at them for 'chucking'.