|
|
 |
 |
 |
| Monday, 24 January 2005 |
 |
|
 |
Sports | |
| News Business Features Editorial Security Politics World Letters Sports Obituaries
|
Don't play chuckers, says ref by Alex Brown Match referee Chris Broad wants teams to leave out players with suspect bowling actions. Chris Broad - the match referee responsible for citing Muttiah Muralitharan, Harbhajan Singh, Shabbir Ahmed and, this week, Mohammad Hafeez for suspect actions - has called on international teams to stop selecting bowlers with illegal delivery motions. Appreciative of an initiative headed by Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Shaharyar Khan, vowed to work with cricketers in his country to "stop this epidemic and return to normalcy", Broad hoped other nations would follow suit, thus reducing the record number of bowlers cited for chucking in recent years. "It's sad because bowlers at international level are suffering the (ignominy) of being reported, when coaches at schools and lower levels of the game have let them down," said Broad. "It is something that has become prevalent in the game over the last five or six years. Certainly, some of them push their luck a little. Perhaps over the years, the people in authority haven't been strong enough or tough enough to report the incidents they see." Along with umpires Peter Parker, Rudi Koertzen and Simon Taufel, Broad cited off spinner Hafeez after a one-day match at the Gabba on Wednesday - the fourth Pakistani international to be reported for chucking since new guidelines were introduced. Pakistan skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq admitted his country's bowlers have a throwing problem but said Hafeez would continue bowling in the one-day series. "This is definitely not being targeted, but definitely there is a problem there," said Inzamam. "I think (Hafeez's) problem is not much, it's very little and hopefully he will cope with that problem. "We have a limited choice and we are carrying a lot of injuries and that's why we don't have choices, so he's bowling in the next game." Satisfied that bent-arm bowlers are no longer being "banned and cast aside as lepers", Broad is nonetheless concerned that the current crop of international stars with suspect actions are inspiring the next generation of cricketers to follow suit. That scenario, especially prevalent in Sri Lanka where youngsters attempt to emulate Muralitharan, has prompted the International Cricket Council to issue a directive to all match referees to report all bowlers suspected of breaching the current legal limits of elbow flexion - five degrees for spinners, 7.5 degrees for medium pacers and 10 degrees for pacemen. ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed confirmed that Hafeez would be scrutinised under existing standards, despite the likelihood that the ICC next month would extend current flexion limits to a blanket 15 degrees. Broad, who reported Muralitharan in Colombo last year, said the ICC was trying to find middle ground with the new regulations. "It's a difficult one. I can understand why people say we are making rules for one or two people in world cricket, and I also understand... why bowlers try to push it," Speed said. "For the last 10 to 12 years, it's been a batsman's game and they're trying to get batsmen out on increasingly flat surfaces. Now, by reporting them and letting the boffins fully review the actions in a laboratory, we can start to work things out. I don't think these new rules will affect the way we view the game. If someone comes on to the scene with a suspect action, they'll still be reported." - (The Age) |
|
News | Business | Features
| Editorial | Security
Produced by Lake House |
