Against all sound counsel not to, Muttiah Muralitharan will continue to bowl his controversial doosra delivery - and put his career on the line by doing so. It has emerged that Sri Lanka Cricket has not instructed Test cricket's most successful bowler to shelve the doosra, despite the International Cricket Council officially declaring it illegal.
But it seems nothing will stop Murali, even with a 12-month ban hanging over his head if his action is reported again.
"I will bowl the doosra anyway," Murali said before the second Test against Zimbabwe.
"Until the Sri Lankan board tells me not to, I will. I think the problem is all the newspapers making the hype.
"If the ICC says I have to do something, I will look at my action. But nobody has said nothing to me."
The ICC understood that SLC had given Murali a firm instruction to not bowl the doosra - in compliance with the first stage of the new ICC process that requires national boards to first deal with suspect actions.
But SLC chief executive Duleep Mendis said: "We just said to him that we would prefer it if he didn't bowl the doosra."
Unsurprisingly, the global cricket fraternity has reacted colourfully to the latest chapter of Murali's throwing crisis.
Nobody in the game polarises opinion like him. To some he is the greatest, a freak of nature. To others, he is a cheat.
 |  I think Murali is talented enough and resilient enough to refine the delivery or develop something else |
But while the queues lengthen to support or deride Murali, the one man whose objectivity has given balance to the controversy is continuing his crusade against the laws, not the so-called chuckers.
Bruce Elliott, the University of Western Australia professor whose biomechanical tests declared the doosra illegal, said Murali's case was the thin edge of the wedge.
He believes the arbitrary 'levels of tolerance', conjured up by the ICC in the wake of the realisation hardly any bowler bowls with a ruler-straight arm, need to be reviewed.
"You look at Shoaib Akhtar and Brett Lee and they have hyperextension in the joints, which is a special occurrence," said Elliott, who advocates a 15-degree allowance for bowlers with naturally bent arms, as against the existing five for spinners and 10 for pacemen.
"I guarantee Shoaib extends more than 10 degrees on some deliveries because of it, and Brett could well too."
Former Aussie Test keeper Ian Healy thinks the tests conducted in Perth were "a bit thin".
"It should all be done from live action in the pressure of a game," Healy said.
"The public wants to know how the rest of his action stands up. Let's get the whole thing analysed."
The captain of Australia, Ricky Ponting, has also questioned the validity of the tests, and believes Muralitharan's action has regressed recently.
"It might have got worse over the last couple of months," Ponting said.
"He certainly hasn't taken all his Test wickets with that delivery."
Sacked Zimbabwe rebel Heath Streak thinks the ICC should dock Murali the wickets he took with the doosra.
"I think they should have looked back at all the footage and taken off all the wickets he got with the doosra to be consistent with their decision," Streak said.
Australia vice-captain Adam Gilchrist begs to differ, suggesting any delivery is only illegal once the ICC declares it to be so.
"Up until the point where he was past Courtney Walsh's mark, the ball was legal," said Gilchrist, who two years ago was reprimanded for branding Murali a thrower at a luncheon.
"I don't think we need to be too precious about it either because at the end of the day he's a great exponent of what he does.
"I think he is talented enough and resilient enough to refine the delivery or develop something else."
Matthew Engel, editor of the Wisden Alamanack, defends Murali on the basis "chuckers have been a part of the game since overarm bowling began".
"You can't retrospectively change the records, going through each dismissal to see if it was taken with the doosra," Engel said.
People can - and will - debate all day over Murali's action, but it seems the man himself is beyond listening. It is clear he will do it his way or not at all.
MMIX
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Murali controversy
