You overlook the fact that when Murali wore a brace that kept his arm absolutely solid... every commentator agreed that it still looked as if he were flexing.

The one great positive to come out of all this fuss has been the way it has exposed the farcical inadequacy of the human eye as a means of judging these things: one guy bowls with a brace and looks as if he's chucking.. the next (say McGrath) bowls with an action that everyone hails as pure.. and is revealed to chuck.

Add in the fact that we've had suggestions that a certain, big name English bowler has apparently admitted that his deliveries turned into chucks when he really went for it... and the whole thing ends up being a right mess: better, I say, to just watch out for basebal pitching.. and let the bowlers gain all the advantage they can from doing what virtually every bowler in history has done before them.

Bottom line: cricket is better for having Murali, Shoaib Akhtar and the likes playing... and is certainly better for having Glen McGrath and Shaun Pollock playing: with what's been revealed of late... it's time to just focus on the joys of what they achieve, not groan about the way they do it.