The expansion in the network of labs that can test bowlers with suspect actions on behalf of the ICC illustrates the governing body's renewed determination to tackle the age-old problem of throwing, and comes after Pakistan off-spinner Saeed Ajmal was reported during a Test series against Sri Lanka for the second time in his career.

It also overcomes some logistical problems. Until recently, all bowlers with dubious actions had to be tested at the University of Western Australia in Perth.

"[This was] impractical for a number of countries, and as a consequence the screening of bowlers with suspect actions at domestic level was not as rigorous as the ICC would have liked," an ICC spokesman said.

The University of WA terminated its arrangement with the ICC in March. It has cited a dispute over intellectual property and expressed concerns about independence as the governing body develops its own testing protocols.

The ICC is adamant these concerns are unwarranted and strongly rejected any suggestion it accessed or misused UWA data.

"The process is now more independent than it has ever been," the ICC spokesman said. "The testing centre and biomechanical staff will still be engaged and paid by the ICC, as they have been previously.

"If scientists were not considered to be independent, then we wouldn't have entertained the concept that an Australian institution could be used as the sole testing centre - potentially testing Australian bowlers, for example.

"The process will be further enhanced as biomechanists from different countries are accredited to conduct tests on behalf of the ICC."

There has been a clear crackdown on throwing, with five bowlers - all of them off-spinners - reported in the past 10 months. New Zealand's Kane Williamson and Sri Lanka's Sachithra Senanayake have been banned from bowling in the past two months after testing at Cardiff Metropolitan University.

Ajmal, who has taken 441 wickets across the three formats since his debut in 2008, is the most high-profile case since Muthiah Muralidaran and his availability looms as a key factor in Australia's October Test series against Pakistan.

The less tolerant attitude towards illegal actions appears to reflect conservative views towards the doosra that often emanate from Australia and England, although in Ajmal's case the match officials cited concerns over a number of deliveries. Significantly, the biggest of the big three countries, India, is on board with the latest effort.

The falling out between the ICC and the University of WA, where Muralidaran's doosra famously passed the test in 2004, appears to centre on a disagreement over testing methods.

An ICC expert panel in 2009 recommended sticking with the Perth lab as the sole testing centre but that changes be made to the protocols. The ICC says the UWA agreed to implement the changes, but then it "chased the UWA for three years for those changes to be implemented, without success".

The ICC commissioned a project to develop its own, standardised testing system "so the ICC and its members could better address the issue of illegal actions", and says it had no choice but to send bowlers to Cardiff for testing when the Perth lab withdrew its services.

In a letter to ICC chief executive David Richardson in March, the university's Tim Ackland objected to UWA data being made available "[without consultation or our consent] to other institutional parties involved in the [2009] study, in order to find inconsistencies in the UWA's dataset".

He also said the university should not have to change its internal modelling and data collection procedures at the behest of the ICC medical committee, which it said did not not include a qualified biomechanist.

With such testiness among the testers, it's little wonder throwing remains one of the most emotive issues in the game. Testing bowlers in match conditions rather than a lab, with bowlers wearing sensors on their arms, is on the horizon.