Three of the world’s top-six ranked one day international bowlers have been either banned or reported for suspect bowling actions in the past month.
Five bowlers were reported during the recently-completed Champions Trophy T20 tournament.
The world’s third-ranked T20 bowler, Sachithra Senanayake, is currently prohibited from playing cricket. And Pakistan has reported 28 local bowlers over their actions during the country’s domestic season.
Just how far will this new crackdown on chucking go?
Pakistan off-spinner Saeed Ajmal cannot play cricket, while his teammate Mohammad Hafeez and West Indian star Sunil Narine were both reported for suspect actions in the Champions League.
Ajmal is the best bowler in international cricket, taking into account all three formats. Narine and Hafeez have not made a big impact on Test cricket but are elite short-form bowlers. The West Indian is almost the most valuable T20 player in the world. Yet it is possible that both Narine and Hafeez soon could join Ajmal on the International Cricket Council’s banned list.
That pair were lucky they were reported while playing in the Champions League rather than in international cricket. The Champions League rules on bowling actions, dictated by the Board of Control for Cricket in India, are less stringent than those of the ICC.
Narine and Hafeez were placed on a ‘warning list’ after their reports, with the proviso that if they were reported again in the tournament they’d be sidelined. Narine was called a second time by the umpires, was banned from playing in the final, and has been withdrawn from his country’s squad for their current tour of India.
The Champions Trophy reports have no bearing on the ability of Narine or Hafeez to play international cricket. But they will have put both bowlers on the radar of every international umpire.
The actions of Narine and Hafeez will be heavily scrutinised by ICC officials in their next international outings. The world cricketing body has launched an unprecedented crackdown on bowling actions this year.
And the focus is no longer just on doosras. Narine was reportedly put on notice because of concerns that he flexed his arm too much when sending down his quicker balls.
His West Indian teammate Marlon Samuels late last year was banned by the ICC from bowling his faster delivery.
A third West Indian, Shane Shillingford, received a ban from the ICC around the same time after testing found that he flexed his arm by more than the permitted 15 degrees even when delivering his stock off-spinner
Hafeez, meanwhile, was found during ICC testing to flex his arm by more than double the permitted 15 degrees during all of his deliveries.
The heat so far has been on off spinners, as you would expect. It is nigh-on impossible to chuck a leg spin delivery, while there have been few fast bowlers in modern history with genuinely suspect actions.
But the success of Sri Lankan Muttiah Muralitharan and, more recently, the likes of Ajmal, Narine and Hafeez seems to be encouraging emerging off spinners to exploit the 15 degrees of flex rule.
It is such a problem in Pakistan that not only have Ajmal and Hafeez been banned and reported, respectively, but one of the off spinners in contention to replace Ajmal in the Test team, Adnan Rasool, was also reported in recent weeks.
Even more astoundingly, there were 28 cases of suspect bowling actions during the recent Pakistan domestic T20 competition, according to website The Cricket Country.
Chucking has become a disease which is rapidly spreading through the cricketing population. The ICC’s move to crackdown on suspect actions is long overdue, but admirable nonetheless.
More high-profile casualties are likely. Watch this space.
Vibhor
Roar Rookie
Yes, I agree, relaxing the limit would discourage bowlers from taking up the more demanding fast bowling
Ronan O'Connell
Expert
Video of Ajmal's remodelled bowling action has been released. It looks much better but I just can't see him ever being as affective as he was previously. To overhaul your action at 37yo is a massive ask. http://video.dunyanews.tv/index.php/en/mustwatch/8621/Saeed-Ajmal's-new-bowling-action-surfaces#.VDfbLBw0W8g
Ronan O'Connell
Expert
It's a pity it took the ICC so long to crack down on suspect actions but I'm glad they finally have. The Pakistan Cricket Board has already reacted by reporting many of its domestic players in an effort to clear up the problem in their country. Let's hope other cricket boards do the same.
Ronan O'Connell
Expert
It was a bizarre situation to have the umpire calling a player for chucking while behind the stumps, as the Don pointed out in that article linked earlier. Darrell Hair certainly was not afraid of sparking controversy.
Antiwhippy
Guest
Antiwhippy
Guest
Oh i know, I just wish that they were called early on in their careers.
Armchair Expert
Guest
Don, I could mount a case for Edgar having a good view of Meckiff from square leg but there's no way Hair could of watched Murali's foot for a no ball and his arm for throwing at the same time, that suggested to me that Hair's no ball calls for throwing by Murali were premeditated and also unprecedented.
Hoppy
Guest
To say that the human eye is a reliable way of determining if someone chucks the ball or not is plain idiotic. The human eye is nowhere near capable enough to such a thing without room for error. In fact, it can't detect any 'chucking' below 15 degrees (the basis of the 15 degree law). The human eye is subject to various illusions. If a person has a permanently bent elbow, then it will look like he chucks, regardless of whether he does or doesn't. This was the case with Brett Lee. "Lee, BTW, had a pure action…indeed, a beautiful action. He never looked like he chucked." Absolute RUBBISH. Lee was called for chucking, and upon investigation he was later cleared. Get your facts right. Cricket Australia were adamant in insisting that it was an 'optical illusion' that made it look like Lee chucked. Lee himself was pushing this claim. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=143900 What baffles me is the double standards displayed here. When Lee bowls with a bent arm, and it looks like he chucks it's all well and good for it to be an optical illusion. No one questions the legitimacy of the testing he had to undergo. But when Muralitharan, who has far more evidence in his favour than Lee does is shown to have the same illusion, it is suddenly unacceptable. Get a grip!
Ronan O'Connell
Expert
Well the crackdown actually started about 10-11 months ago when Samuels and Shillingford were both banned. Since then there have been regular reports for suspect actions.
Ronan O'Connell
Expert
I don't ever remember playing against any chuckers in junior cricket but in the competition I play in now there are several blatant chuckers yet the umpires turn a blind eye.
Don Freo
Guest
Lee, BTW, had a pure action...indeed, a beautiful action. He never looked like he chucked. You are mixing up the wobbly Biro effect with chucking. Love you to show me where he was called for chucking. You won't be able to.
Don Freo
Guest
Don't get me started on Bradman What is this relying on scientists then Braddles? Use your eyes and it's obvious. You don't need others to tell you how to think.
Don Freo
Guest
You don't need to do any of that. You play cricket or baseball. Put up with the sore brain...but leave the purity of cricket alone.
The Bush
Roar Guru
Anyone who played cricket from a young age in Australia at any decent level can tell you that suspect actions are weened out very early on. It's no surprise that the countries with the most chuckers also are the poorest and least able to afford coaches and real systems etc - Pakistan, Sri Lanka and the West Indies.
Quitwhinging
Guest
Its not the bowlers fault, blame the coaches who teach them to bowl like that
Dasilva
Guest
If you don't give a stuff about the scientist (I don't really with that attitude but I'll play along). Well there are no universal concensus amongst cricketers or umpires on Murali either for example Michael Slater who was shown in the video supports Murali though someone like Gilchrist finds it questionable However if you are not going to take in consideration opinion from scientist but values opinion from cricketers Here is an opinion from Don Bradman http://www.espncricinfo.com/australia/content/story/135717.html
Antiwhippy
Guest
While I think it's fine to crack down on chucking, I'm annoyed by the timing of it all really. Why have the ICC give the A-OK to bowlers so that they become an integral part of the team only to pull them out now? Also so close to the world cup too. Call them early to fix their actions (also let's not be ridiculous here. Chucking gives them an advantage but you need a lot more skills that aren't related to chucking to be an actual good spinner) or make it so that the teams can pick a player that can be integrated into the squad properly for the big tournament. Also oh the irony of murali being the australian spin coach.
Ronan O'Connell
Expert
And today another off spinner has been banned - Prosper Utseya, who caused Australia headaches when Zim upset them recently. The casualties are piling up.
Ronan O'Connell
Expert
You've embarrassed yourself there Hoppy. Don't criticise me for what others have posted.
Hoppy
Guest
I'm sorry, but that is ridiculous. What we see with the naked eye is quite often far from reality - not only in cricket, but life in general. We live in the 21st century where we are fortunate enough to have the technology to take a closer look and make more accurate judgements. Going by the naked eye test, anyone with an elbow that is permanently bent (completely legal) would appear to chuck. This was the case with Brett Lee. Cricket Australia insisted that he didn't chuck, despite what it looked like, and said that it was due to a permanently bent elbow that he looked like he was throwing. Horrible idea!