Chucked Out

After years of leniency, the ICC has finally launched a crackdown on bowlers with suspicious actions

But now the ICC has launched an unprecedented crackdown on bowlers with suspicious actions. In the last month or so, a number of offspinners, including those at the top of their game, have been banned or reported for chucking. The list includes Saeed Ajmal (Pakistan), the highest wicket-taker across all formats in the last three years; his compatriot, Mohammad Hafeez; Sunil Narine (West Indies), one of the best slower bowlers in limited overs’ Cricket; Sachithra Senanayake (Sri Lanka); Kane Williamson (New Zealand); Prosper Utseya (Zimbabwe) and Sohag Gazi (Bangladesh). A number of other offspinners were also reported in the recent Champions League Twenty20 (CLT20) tournament. This crackdown has resulted in various conspiracy theories. Some suggest that with the World Cup months away, this is a ploy to weaken strong bowling units like Pakistan. Others point out how no player from the three most powerful nations at the ICC—India, Australia and England— has been reported. Some even point out that Narine was reported just days before the final of the CLT20 tournament, played against the Chennai Super Kings, the franchisee owned by the ICC head N Srinivasan.

Whatever the reason for the timing of the crackdown, a cleanup has been long overdue. The ICC had revamped its old rules—which permitted slow bowlers to straighten their arms from a bent position by five degrees, medium-fast bowlers by seven-and-a-half degrees, and fast bowlers by 10 degrees—in 2004 to allow all bowlers to straighten their arms by up to 15 degrees, suspiciously at the time when the very successful Sri Lankan Muttiah Muralitharan, and especially his doosra delivery, was facing a lot of heat. This decision to allow greater ‘tolerance’ has led to a situation—maybe encouraged, even—where bowlers with suspicious actions abound on every cricket field. Deliveries like the doosra and bowling actions like Muralitharan’s are hardly rare anymore. Ajmal was found bending his elbow while bowling by up to 43 degrees. Earlier this year, the Indian offspinner R Ashwin, who does not possess a doosra and always bowls in half sleeves, turned up in a match against Bangladesh in full sleeves. When later asked about it, he said, “I just wanted to see if you can get more revs on the ball, if you can do a little bit with your elbow... You can get a lot of advantage with these things. So why should I lag behind if someone else is getting a competitive edge?” Thankfully, the ICC has now decided to check this.