THE phrase “poacher turned gamekeeper” could have been coined to describe Chris Broad’s transformation from abrasive player to stringent referee. If the ICC wanted a man it could guarantee would refuse to shirk from contentious decisions, it could not have made a more transparent appointment to join the panel of match officials a year ago.

Never a man to court popularity with a diplomatic turn of a blind eye, Broad will face huge criticism in India after reporting Harbhajan Singh, the off spinner, for a suspect bowling action after the second Test match against Pakistan in Calcutta. Harbhajan was playing for the first time since his action had been called into question last December . . . by Broad.

Now, as then, he has queried the legitimacy of Harbhajan’s “doosra”, the ball that spins against convention from leg to off. In 2004, Broad reported Muttiah Muralitharan for the same delivery, bringing all manner of accusations from Sri Lanka and prompting a review by the ICC into the definition of a throw.

Harbhajan will become the first bowler to go through the process that came into effect on March 1, having been the last to be assessed under the old system. He expressed disappointment yesterday, saying that any discrepancy would have been spotted when he worked with Bruce Elliott, a biomechanist, in Australia recently.

New rules allow 15 degrees of straightening in the elbow, but no bowler is ever cleared permanently. In this case, Broad agreed with Darrell Hair and Steve Bucknor, the umpires, that Harbhajan’s action changed when he bowled the “doosra” in the second innings, perhaps under pressure to give the ball that extra rip as India sought the wickets they needed for victory on Saturday. They won by 195 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.

Last December, too, Broad’s assessment of Harbhajan was supported by the umpires, then Alim Dar and Mark Benson. But there is more. In recent months Broad has also reported Mohammad Hafeez, from Pakistan, docked Inzamam-ul-Haq, the Pakistan captain, his match fee for slow over-rates and, two weeks ago, fined Lakshmipathy Balaji, the India bowler, for excessive appealing.

For a batsman good enough to average almost 40 for England and to hit three hundreds in successive Ashes Tests, Broad could look very ordinary against slow bowling. A joke has been doing the rounds that with Muralitharan, Hafeez and Harbhajan all called to account, he is gaining belated revenge at the age of 47.

Had referees been around in the 1980s, Broad might have left international cricket poorer than when he arrived. He got away with a reprimand after refusing to leave the crease on being given out against Pakistan in 1987. Less than three months later he was fined £500 for knocking over a stump after being bowled in the Bicentennial Test against Australia in Sydney.

There were also chequered moments at domestic level. At Nottinghamshire he was dropped after being identified as a ringleader in a dispute that brought Tim Robinson, his opening partner, to the brink of resignation as captain. The county released Broad in 1992.

Broad is simply an ambitious, fiercely driven man who speaks his mind. After reporting Muralitharan, he was pulled off Sri Lanka duties last year, but the ICC has no plans to remove him for either the third Test, which starts on Thursday, or the subsequent one-day series. Too many referees have been seen as a soft touch for it to compromise somebody prepared to work to his brief.