By Ravi Prasad in Kandy

Ace Sri Lankan bowler Muttiah Muralitharan is in a dilemma. His bosses are trying to persuade him to tour Australia but his family is firmly opposed to the idea.

Laxmi Muttiah has watched every one of her son's matches

Murali, who holds the record for Test wickets with 527 in 90 matches, had threatened to boycott the two-match series, after the Australian Prime Minister John Howard labelled him a "chucker".

His mother Laxmi Muttiah wants him to stay away from the tour, which begins later this month.

"No, no. I don't want him to go there. They will insult him again," Laxmi told BBC Sport.

"Although he gets telephones calls from there everyday from his friends like [Steve] Waugh asking him to come, we don't want him to go."

What will happen if the match referee or the umpire calls him again? Laxmi Muttiah

Murali's countrymen agree. In a poll conducted by Colombo's Sunday Times, 82% of respondents reckoned the off-spinner should not tour.

Murali's mother, who has watched every delivery bowled by her son, said whenever he toured Australia he was humiliated by fans and called for throwing by officials.

The family doesn't want him to undergo another agonizing experience.

"What will happen if the match referee or the umpire calls him again? It will be another humiliation and we won't be able to do anything," Laxmi Muttiah said.

She recalled the mental agony Murali suffered when he called for throwing during a Test match in 1995, by umpire Darrell Hair.

The International Cricket Council cleared his action, but has banned him from bowling his 'doosra', a delivery with an off-spin action but cutting in the opposite direction.

Once again during the 1998-99 tour, umpire Ross Emerson called Murali during a one-day match, causing captain Arjuna Ranatunga to lead his team off the field in protest.

"What such people perceive as a throw is an optical illusion, a fact proven by tests carried out on my bowling action," Murali said in a recent statement.

They want Shane Warne to be ahead of Murali Former coach Sunil Fernando

Sunil Fernando, who spotted Murali's talent when the spinner was just nine years old, defends his prot�g�'s action.

"When I asked him about the controversy, he told me, 'I know I am not cheating. I am not chucking'," said Fernando.

A provincial coach with Sri Lanka Cricket in Kandy, some 120 kilometres away from the capital Colombo, Fernando still keeps in touch with the spinner and points out his shortcomings after every series.

Allegation by the ace Indian spinner Bishen Bedi that Murali cheats has infuriated his mother and his coach.

"That man is jealous of Murali," said Fernando, who coached Murali from the age of nine to 15.

Fernando feels that Murali has been called during his tours to Australia because the Australians want to discourage him.

"They know that if Murali goes on like this one day he will finish with 850 or 900 wickets. They want Shane Warne to be ahead of Murali," Fernando said.

Murali will doubtless consult his family before reaching a final decision but time is running out for him to make up his mind - the team leave for Australia on Saturday.