I applaud the ICC’s recent move to rid the game of bowlers with illegal actions, even if I feel for those now being made examples. However, I still think there is a blind spot in the rules as I’ll demonstrate in the following letter.
Dear Former International Batsman,
You may be interested to learn that the bowler who ended your career five months ago was in fact bowling his deliveries illegally. This will help you in your quest to return to the international arena because – uh – as you come from Australia or England or India you will not encounter any chuckers in domestic cricket.
This is not just the unqualified opinion of the ICC. No bowlers representing any of those three countries actually appear to have suspicious actions to be remedied. More to the point, an independent scientific study commissioned by the ICC has shown there may not be in the future. Our laissez-faire, sorry I mean their rigorous and impartial methods, mainly consisted of using bank statements as a form of filtered eyeglasses.
Ian Chappell is therefore wrong when he says, “Batsmen need immediate protection in this case (on-field immediacy) rather than getting a letter from the ICC six months later apologising because they have discovered the delivery that uprooted off stump was illegal.” The ICC cannot and does not apologise on behalf of a bowler with an illegal action. And our response time is five months, thank you Mr Chappell.
Besides, laws are available to the on-field umpire to prevent the blight of chucking in the game. We have always fully supported our umpires when they apply the relevant section of the laws of cricket. The ICC is not liable if the chance of our umpires actually activating them is similar to Australian opener Chris Rogers making the West Indian T20 team at the expense of Darren Sammy. Rest assured, the ICC is commissioning a survey to find and eradicate the source of umpire hesitation.
The ICC believes that our recent actions will help redress the balance between bat and ball. No one is allowed to pelt a cricket ball Babe Ruth style. In the spirit of these recent decisions, the ICC has advised the curators hired by the Western Australian Cricket Association and the Queensland Cricket Association that they should follow the lead of the Rajasthan Cricket Association.
After all, Jaipur continues to be the model of an even contest between bat and ball, as this match demonstrated.
Yours sincerely,
Ivan Bliminse
ICC Spokesman.
On the serious side, I reiterate that I think the recent ICC crackdown has great potential. Often I cry out for a fairer game for bowlers but the balance can’t be redressed by chucking. I am glad that the ICC has recognised that the status quo couldn’t continue.
I hope the ICC follows up their good work by finding a solution in terms of on-field protection for batsmen. A bowler who pelts the odd ball is even more dangerous than someone whose default action is dodgy.
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