Playing it Straight

In a game as gentlemanly as cricket, yelling "cheat" is not done lightly. Imagine the shock, therefore, when cricket's ruling council formally announced last week that almost every bowler in the history of the game had played fast and loose with the rules.

The cause of the declaration was an investigation into Sri Lankan spin bowler Muttiah Muralitharan, one of the sport's all-time greats. Murali, as he is known, is celebrated for a particularly devilish delivery known as the doosra , which has a deceptive spin that most batsmen aren't aware of until it's too late. Critics have accused...