A goniometer was used to measure the angle of "fixed deformity" in Muralitharan's elbow…
The recently concluded tour by the Sri Lankan cricket team to Australia will certainly rank as one of the most controversial tours in the history of the game. At the centre of the controversy was Sri Lanka's champion off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan, whose bowling action caused extensive worry among the Australians (and the English).
The heat on the over-80-test-old Muralitharan, rated by many to be the worlds best off-spinner, was intense: the media hounded him—some calling for his ban from cricket; the Australian spectators jeered and called him a "chucker" every time he came on to bowl; and the umpires, including even the South African match referee, only added fuel to fire.
Matters came to a head in Adelaide on 23 January during the one-day fixture between Sri Lanka and England, when the Sri Lankan captain Arjuna Ranatunga almost led his team out of the game after umpire Ross Emerson 'called' Murali for throwing. Ranatunga declared half-way through the tour that Murali, Sri Lanka's highest wicket-taker ever, would not visit Australia again.