Shut up, Bob

After Pakistan lost the test series against South Africa, Bob Woolmer's been whining about how the ridiculous cricket calendar has meant that Pakistan is unable to call upon the services of Shoaib Akhtar, Umar Gul and Shabbir Ahmed.

I have some news for you, Bob.

Firstly, the schedule has been known to you for a while. Did you approach the PCB about it? Did you chaps have to play two back-to-back series against West Indies and South Africa? Did the PCB tell you that their hands were tied? Would it have been tough to reschedule either of those series for an alternative time period? Would you have whined about the schedule if Pakistan had won, rather than lost?

Secondly, Akhtar, Gul and Shabbir weren't all missing because of injury caused by being made to bowl continuously. Shoaib was on the way back into the side after being reprieved by the PCB's appeals committee. He played one first-class game and a couple of Twenty20 games before he was rushed to South Africa. He hadn't been picked because he was apparently not fit. Then he was roped in because Umar Gul was unfit. Now, this Gul chap, he's competing with Shane Bond for the Rudyard Kipling award (If - geddit?!). Until he injured his ankle, he managed to string together 9 tests in a row! Now we get to Shabbir. Shabbir has missed international cricket for a year now after being banned in December 2005. He was cleared last month. He didn't turn up in South Africa because he "had a knee problem" and didn't clear a fitness test.

So let's analyze the three - Shoaib was clearly undercooked when he went to South Africa. So it'd have been tough for him to get away with being out of action for a long time. Gul has been injury-prone throughout his career. So we actually ought to be surprised if he plays! Shabbir, in my opinion, didn't tour South Africa because the PCB didn't want to risk him being called for chucking again.

There goes your bubble, Bob! POP!

Labels: bob woolmer, chucking, fitness, gul, pakistan, scheduling, shabbir, shoaib, shoaib akhtar

Thus spake Jagadish @ 7:09 pm | Sledge/Read 4 sledge(s)
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Lets keep the dodgy actions out please

I just happened to catch Cricket Star, the reality show on Zee Sports. It definitely looked ok. Some of the talent on show, especially in the spin bowling department, was quite good. But those in charge of the show, especially the likes of Kapil, Jadeja, Robin Singh and Manjrekar who're interacting with the young cricketers, need to make sure that they ensure that no one with a dodgy bowling action gets to be on the show. I've just seen an offspinner bowl whose bowling action would elicit a gasp from Muralitharan.

Strictly going by the ICC's standards, Murali does not chuck. But would those youngsters participating in the show, or indeed we, want a youngster's bowling action to be exposed as being faulty after he makes his debut, regardless of whether an on-field umpire calls him for chucking or if the decision is taken by committee? I'm fairly sure that the answer is no.

Which is why it is absolutely critical that this chucking thingie should be dealt with at the earliest, regardless of whether the arena is a reality TV show or an under-14 game.

Labels: chucking, murali, reality tv

Thus spake Jagadish @ 12:55 am | Sledge/Read 0 sledge(s)
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Shabbir Ahmed's bowling action is cleared

Shabbir Ahmed, banned a year ago for 'probably bowling some deliveries where his arm bends by more than 15 °', has been allowed to resume his international career since he 'is now once again capable of bowling within the ICC tolerance level which is a 15 degree elbow extension with every delivery'.

I've seen his action before and after he revamped it earlier. There was absolutely no difference. In fact, the first time I saw him, on debut against West Indies at Toronto in 1999, my first thoughts were "How on earth is this action legal?"

So now let's start placing bets on when Shabbir will be hauled up again for breaking the 15 ° barrier? My gut feeling is that if he is picked for Pakistan's tour of South Africa coming up soon, he'll be reported for chucking yet again!

In other chucking news, Martin Crowe, who spoke out passionately against chucking in his Cowdrey Lecture at Lord's earlier this year, has made it abundantly clear that he still thinks the legality of Murali's doosra should be reviewed yet again.

Labels: chucking, murali, shabbir

Thus spake Jagadish @ 7:42 pm | Sledge/Read 0 sledge(s)
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Johan Botha cleared

Just like the ICC cleared Harbhajan and told him that he should always bowl with the same action, the one which had been okayed, it is now Johan Botha's turn to be told what to bowl, how to bowl, etc.

Botha's action was reported in January this year. He was suspended in February. A couple of months ago, the South African cricket board said that he hadn't cleared a test conducted in England.

He has been cleared after a reassessment at the University of Western Australia, supervised by Prof. Bruce Elliott.

Labels: chucking

Thus spake Jagadish @ 7:29 pm | Sledge/Read 0 sledge(s)
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Johan Botha's action still not ok

South Africa's Johan Botha, banned earlier this year from throwing bowling, faces some more time on the sidelines after South Africa's cricket board revealed that another test on his bowling action had returned a negative result.

Labels: chucking

Thus spake Jagadish @ 5:36 pm | Sledge/Read 0 sledge(s)
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Martin Crowe's Cowdrey lecture

Martin Crowe, the brilliant New Zealand all-time great batsman, and a personal favourite, delivered the 2006 Cowdrey 'Spirit of Cricket' lecture at Lord's.

Last year's lecture was delivered by Geoff Boycott. The 2001 lecture was delivered by Richie Benaud, the 2002 lecture was by Barry Richards, the 2003 one by Sunil Gavaskar and the 2004 lecture was delivered by Clive Lloyd.

Crowe, who has previously expressed his views on the ICC tweaking around with one-day cricket, felt that Hawkeye's role in cricket needed to be re-assessed and use it in a consistent manner, across countries. He suggested that the ICC could 'own' Hawkeye and then 'provide' it to broadcasters. Clearly he didn't read the Wisden Group's media release of a month ago when it announced that it had bought over the Hawk-Eye technology.

He then went on to ask for umpires to be helped in adjudicating no-balls by either scrapping the front-foot no-ball rule or allowing the TV umpire to call front-foot no-balls. He also called for chucking to be determined by umpires, using the naked eye, rather than using tolerance levels of 15°. He also asked for the ICC's elite panel of umpires to be expanded, chosen purely on merit, regardless of their nationality and get all the umpires (two on-field and one third umpire) to share the duties.

Interestingly enough, this is an idea I propounded on my personal blog nearly 2^1/2 years ago where I in fact suggested that all four umpires, including the reserve umpire, should share duties. I'm happy that I was two years ahead of Martin Crowe :)

Crowe also made his point on ensuring sufficient rest between tours, injuries, player burn-out and meaningless games. He asked for tours to henceforth constitute three tests, three one-dayers and three Twenty20 games. He also wanted Zimbabwe and Bangladesh to be thrown out of international cricket, which'd go a long way in reducing the amount of international cricket played.

You can listen to the lecture online.

Labels: chucking, colin cowdrey lecture, spirit of cricket

Thus spake Jagadish @ 11:54 am | Sledge/Read 2 sledge(s)
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You want irony? Try this

The feared 1960s West Indies fast bowling pair of Wes Hall and Charlie Griffith have offered to rejuvenate Jermaine Lawson's international career.

Almost exactly a year ago, Jermaine Lawson's action was reported.

So where's the irony, you ask. The irony is that Charlie Griffith is volunteering to help someone out with his action. Griffith's action, especially when he "bowled" bouncers and yorkers, was widely considered to be suspect.

Previous delicious irony here: Ian Botham's 50th birthday celebrated in his favourite country, Gavaskar, born 57 years ago, comes up with ideas for one-day cricket, Chris Broad pulls up indisciplined players and Clive Lloyd rules on slow over rates.

Labels: chucking

Thus spake Jagadish @ 11:55 am | Sledge/Read 0 sledge(s)
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Martin Johnson is too funny!

Martin Johnson's potshot at Ashley Giles during England's tour of Pakistan was too good.

In his column after day one of the Lord's test against Sri Lanka, he wrote thus about Murali's bowling

Muttiah Muralitharan took two of the three wickets to fall, and almost effected a direct-hit run-out with what the more uncharitable chroniclers of his career would describe as by no means his first accurate throw of the day.

Labels: chucking, murali

Thus spake Jagadish @ 3:16 pm | Sledge/Read 0 sledge(s)
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Johan Botha can bat and field but not bowl

South Africa's Johan Botha, whose bowling action was reported last month during the Sydney test, has now been suspended from bowling in international cricket until he rectifies his bowling action. Apparently his seedha, the normal delivery, and his doosra, transgress the ICC's fifteen degrees of freedom. Like I mentioned, I don't get why he was reported only in Sydney. I didn't see any difference between the way he bowled in the one-dayers against India and his bowling action at Sydney.

Labels: chucking

Thus spake Jagadish @ 7:42 pm | Sledge/Read 0 sledge(s)
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Botha's action reported

Johan Botha, South Africa's off-spinner who seems to have been heavily inspired by Harbhajan, was reported for a dodgy bowling action. He thus emulates Harbhajan, who has been through the process quite a few times.

Last month, the ICC ruled that Shabbir Ahmed was banned for a year and that Shoaib Malik was temporarily clean.

Of course, the question remains about why Botha wasn't reported during the India-South Africa one-dayers. I couldn't see any real difference in the way he bowled on both occasions.

Labels: chucking

Thus spake Jagadish @ 4:40 pm | Sledge/Read 0 sledge(s)
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Shabbir stopped from chucking, Shoaib Malik can continue

Pakistan's fast bowler Shabbir Ahmed has been banned for a year after his action was reviewed by the University of Western Australia. Shoaib Malik has been let-off with the warning that if his action deteriorated or if he bowled the doosra, he could be called again. Last month, the two were reported for chucking by the umpires in the first test against England at Multan.

It is interesting that Bruce Elliott concludes

It could therefore be concluded, given Mr Ahmed's current level of maximum elbow flexion, that he probably bowls some deliveries in each innings that are above the acceptable 15° tolerance limit as stated in the September 2005 report.

If Shabbir only probably bowls some deliveries where his arm bends more than the maximum amount measured by the ICC's geometry box, why ban him? Surely a ban is called for when he definitely, as opposed to "probably", bowls deliveries illegally?!

As for Shoaib Malik, his situation is similar to what Harbhajan faced, in terms of needing to possibly get the ICC's permission via phone at the start of every over, informing them about the exact sequence of deliveries he is about to bowl.

Previously on chucking: James Kirtley banned, Shabbir and Lawson in trouble, Malik cleared, Malik in trouble and choosing who to ban for chucking.

Labels: chucking

Thus spake Jagadish @ 7:39 pm | Sledge/Read 4 sledge(s)
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James Kirtley suspended by ECB from delivering the ball

Since I have been convinced for a while about James Kirtley having a dodgy action, I chose not to use the word 'bowl' in the title of this post.

The ECB has suspended him and he will not be allowed to run in and deliver the ball in domestic or international matches. The independent assessment at the ECB Academy revealed that his action exceeded the 15° of freedom allowed by the rules. He will now have to rectify his action and then report for another test.

Doubts about his action first came to the fore nearly a year after a tour of New Zealand with the 'A' side where eyebrows were raised. His action was then cleared by the ECB. During James Kirtley's debut series against Zimbabwe in October 2001, match referee Naushad Ali formally reported him for a suspect bowling action.

I watched him bowl during India's tour of England in 2002 and I was absolutely convinced that he chucked the ball.

During England's tour of Sri Lanka in 2003, there were reports about match referee Clive Lloyd had asked for footage of him bowling following the umpires reporting concern over his action. However Lloyd denied that there had been any such move.

Earlier this year, his action had been under scrutiny after opponents Warwickshire filmed his action during a County Championship game against Sussex and showed the fairly incriminating footage to the umpires.

Update: Shabbir Ahmed's bowling action has been cleared by the ICC, provided he bowls with the action that was demonstrated during the analysis of his action.

Previous stuff on chucking: Michael Parkinson on Murali, Shabbir suspended, Flintoff chucks?, Harbhajan cleared II, Shoaib Malik cleared, doosra ban?, tighten the rules, Harbhajan v Broad, Harbhajan cleared I, Shoaib Malik action not ok, left-handed Brett Lee, Ponting on ICC, Ian Chappell on ICC, ICC admits lapses, McGrath-Gillespie-Lee chuckers?, ICC reveals everyone chucks, Roebuck on Flintoff, Murali excluded because of action?, but he doesn't chuck!, Dalmiya wants umpires to call, Ian Chappell wants umps to decide, Murali will bowl doosra and is he a victim?

Labels: chucking

Thus spake Jagadish @ 4:20 pm | Sledge/Read 0 sledge(s)
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Michael Parkinson's unwarranted dig at Murali

While writing about Warne's greatness, Michael Parkinson Myarseisintheparkinglot took a pot-shot at Murali.

In any sensible reckoning of sporting achievement he belongs in the most select company along with the aforesaid Ali, Jack Nicklaus, Pele and, dare I say it, Don Bradman. Warne has redefined the art of spin bowling every bit as much as Bradman demonstrated his mastery of batting.

The argument that Warne's reputation must be judged alongside another spin bowler who closely pursues him in the averages is not one I have any time for. In my view, Muchichuckalot will be remembered as the bowler who enforced a change in the rules to accommodate his - how shall we describe it - controversial action.

While the question of whether Murali chucks or not is a matter for debate, I think Michael Parkinson's act of bringing in Murali into the picture, merely to reinforce his strong belief that he chucks, as reflected in the nickname he uses, was a rather shameful and cheap attack. Parkinson obviously is demeaning Murali's name when he calls him 'Muchichuckalot'. The fact that he can't pronounce 'Muralitharan' with his rolled tongue to save his life doesn't give him the right to tamper with it.

I don't think there're too many people who question Warne's greatness. But should Warne be considered great at the cost of rubbishing Murali's achievements? I think not!

Despite his various well chronicled off-field antics and the odd stupid comment, there is absolutely no way you can question the man's talent and ability to perform when it counts. This has been made amply evident in the last three months.

Just sticking to test cricket, while Murali's statistics certainly are comparable with Warne, he will always be ranked lower, perhaps even by those who do not care about his bowling action, because of his feasting on Bangladesh and Zimbabwe more often than Warne has. Remove the wickets he has taken against those two teams and Murali's bowling average goes up to 24.1 and the strike rate increases to nearly 60. While it is obviously not his fault that Sri Lanka play those two teams or that the batsmen in those two teams are so hopeless, overall Murali also averages nearly 7 less at home than he does away and his strike rate goes up by nearly an over when he is playing overseas. In Warne's case, he has only played Zimbabwe once and never against Bangladesh. Warne's difference between home and away numbers is very miniscule, if anything, he performs better outside Australia!

So even the stats do imply that Warne is a far better bowler than Murali, regardless of whether Murali is a chucker or not! But why worry about all this when we can find out in the October face-off in the Super Series.

Previous stuff on chucking: ICC's announcement, Murali and his doosra, results of the ICC study, doosra dangers, Murali and the World side, Shoaib Malik cleared? and Harbhajan cleared!

Labels: chucking, murali

Thus spake Jagadish @ 5:30 pm | Sledge/Read 4 sledge(s)
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Lest we forget ...

Ok, its pretty obvious where our focus currently is, but West Indies and Sri Lanka squared off in a two test series recently. Sri Lanka won 2-0 against what could comfortably be termed the West Indies 'B' side, with only skipper Chanderpaul having played more than ten test matches.

The reason the West Indies Cricket Board sent such a team once again boiled down to the same problems which dogged South Africa's tour earlier this year, Digicel v Cable & Wireless. That conflict resulted in Brian Lara being omitted, along with other key players, from the side which played the first test against South Africa. Chanderpaul was named captain and West Indies drew the first test. Lara returned for the second test and played under Chanderpaul's captaincy but in spite of his brilliant form, or perhaps because of his presence, West Indies were beaten. Interesting that I can't get to the actual article on Cricinfo. It seems to have been pulled out for some strange reason. Pressure, perhaps? Authenticity?

Then, Lara dropped out of the one-day series, apparently because he felt that he needed to prolong his test career. With the spat between the WICB and the WIPA spilling out into the open, Curtley Ambrose questioned the need for a pay hike given the team's hopeless record in one-dayers and test matches over a period of time.

In spite of negotiations, including intervention by politicians, the two sides failed to reach an agreement and the WICB announced a squad which might have made a West Indies-Bangladesh-Zimbabwe triangular series seem interesting. Cricket fans, administrators and players in West Indies and Sri Lanka were totally disappointed at the turn of events.

To the credit of the new bunch of players, they did pretty well over the first two days in both tests. They took the first innings lead at Colombo before Murali and Vaas cleaned them up in the second innings. In the second test at Kandy, they were two runs short of Sri Lanka's first innings total. Sangakkara's century and Murali's eight wicket haul ensured an easy win for Sri Lanka.

West Indies did manage to find some light at the end of the tunnel, not necessarily a train running in the opposite direction.

Jermaine Lawson took more wickets than everyone bar Murali and Vaas, but was pulled up for an illegal action yet again. Denesh Ramdin, the new wicket-keeper, scored a half-century and took quite a few catches. Narsingh Deonarine got a few runs while Daren Powell did quite well with the ball. Interesting that the top three run-getters in the side were all of Indian origin, Chanderpaul, Ramdin and Deonarine!

The next challenge for this bunch comes in the Indian Oil Cup. I really can't see this side reaching the final, but if they scare Sri Lanka and India along the way, it could be the start of a long trek back uphill after a downslide lasting nearly a decade.

India has its own set of problems. With the BCCI-ICC wrangle over Ganguly's suspension all set to be decided today, there is still a lot of uncertainty over who will play and who won't. As Ranatunga points out, it will be very tough for the batsmen to cope with Murali on his home territory. Add in the fact that none of the batsmen have a good record in Sri Lanka and this makes the task even more difficult.

Labels: chucking

Thus spake Jagadish @ 3:45 pm | Sledge/Read 0 sledge(s)
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Chucking report card: Shabbir and Lawson in trouble

Shabbir Ahmed, who was reported for an illegal bowling action after the first test at Barbados between Pakistan and West Indies a couple of months ago, has now been officially suspended from international cricket after the ICC obtained proof that he bends his arm more than what the ICC's official protractor, sponsored by whoever, allows him to.

Meanwhile even as his team matched Sri Lanka blow-for-blow in the first innings only to surrender the advantage with some hopeless bowling to the tailenders and being blown away in the second innings, Jermaine Lawson, who picked up 8/102 in the game and was probably West Indies' best bowler on view, has been reported by the umpires for a suspect bowling action. Lawson had been earlier reported after West Indies' record run-chase against Australia two years ago.

Labels: chucking

Thus spake Jagadish @ 3:12 pm | Sledge/Read 0 sledge(s)
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Chucking report card: Harbhajan cleared and Shabbir hauled up

It certainly sounds like deja vu, but Harbhajan's bowling action was cleared by the ICC, again. Marc Portus, the bio-mechanics expert who worked on analyzing his action, felt that while there were several differences between Harbhajan's bowling action in the India-Pakistan series and when he was examined at the University of Western Australia, a conclusion could not be reached because of different footage quality and camera angles. The caveat with the latest move by the ICC to clear his action is that he must bowl with an action consistent with that demonstrated during his tests at UWA. The possibility that he could be called for chucking again in future is not ruled out.

After Harbhajan Singh was reported in Bangladesh, he was referred to Bruce Elliott, from the University of Western Australia. On the basis of tests conducted there, his action, possibly specifically the doosra, was cleared.

Effectively the ICC wants Harbhajan to bowl the same sort of delivery again and again. All it would require for opposition coaches, captains, analysts and batsmen is to obtain the complete footage of his tests at the university. They would be able to devise plans to counter his bowling since he is now restricted.

Since the eleventh commandment has already been declared by spectators at Sabina Park to be "Dowe shalt not bowl", perhaps the twelfth commandment, as decreed by the ICC, is that "Harbhajan shall bowl at the exact speed of 84.31 kph with his two feet pointing away from each other at precisely 12.53 degrees". What they're effectively doing is telling him how exactly he must bowl. This will just destroy the youngster's career. They might as well have banned him from playing any further. At least his record would still be intact. Now it is not inconceivable that he slips from nearly 200 wkts at an avg of 28 to 250 wickets at an avg of 35 and quits the game in disgust.

Pakistan's woes did not end with a thrashing at Bridgetown in spite of bowling out West Indies on the first day. Shabbir Ahmed, who took 5 wickets in the game, was reported for an illegal bowling action by match referee Ranjan Madugalle. Being reported isn't an uncommon occurence for Shabbir either. He was first reported on debut, incidentally against West Indies. Last year, he was reported in New Zealand.

His action will be studied by a member of the ICC's panel of human movement specialists and then a report will be submitted indicating if his action exceeds that measurable by the ICC's official stationery device, sponsored by LG Electronics. He will be allowed to play international cricket, as long as his board wants him to.

Meanwhile there are reports coming out of Pakistan that all is not quite well in the camp. Shahid Afridi clashed with Younis Khan over his batting position during the first test.

Labels: chucking, match referee

Thus spake Jagadish @ 11:56 am | Sledge/Read 1 sledge(s)
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Marc Portus to analyze Harbhajan's action

The ICC announced today that Marc Portus, a leading bio-mechanist, will work with Harbhajan to analyze his bowling action. His brief is to tell the ICC if Harbhajan's action had changed between the ICC clearing it and him being reported again.

This move comes a week after Harbhajan blasted the ICC for not resolving the confusion regarding the legality of his bowling action. The analysis is expected to take upto two weeks to be done and this obviously has Surrey worried since Harbhajan had signed up with them for the English domestic season.

Meanwhile, Shoaib Malik apparently cant yet really breathe free. The fact that his action is cleared by the ICC does not guarantee that he will not be called in future.

Labels: chucking

Thus spake Jagadish @ 9:53 am | Sledge/Read 0 sledge(s)
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Shoaib Malik's bowling action "cleared"

Although the ICC hasn't said so yet, the PCB is claiming that Shoaib Malik's throwing bowling action has been cleared based on tests in South Africa. That said, clearance by a testing authority is no guarantee that he will not be called again.

He had been reported for his action last October. The PCB had asked the ICC to consider his case on medical grounds. During the tour of India, the team management decided to bowl him in the Jamshedpur one-dayer.

Now I've seen him bowl many times and I'm convinced that his action is totally flawed, when he bowls his normal offbreak, without even bothering about his doosra. If his action is clean, then I dont think the ICC needs to bother about the bowling actions of others like Lee, Flintoff, Kirtley, Harbhajan, Akhtar, Shabbir, Murali, Jermaine Lawson, etc.

NB: The players' names above are arranged in the order of the countries they represent.

Labels: chucking

Thus spake Jagadish @ 5:26 pm | Sledge/Read 0 sledge(s)
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Should the doosra be banned?

Its obvious that the ICC's decision on the 15 degrees of separation means that its ok to throw, as long as the bowler is within the limit. It is also blindingly obvious that off-spinners are the ones getting hauled up most often, primarily because of their doosra. So, is banning the delivery a way out of this quagmire?

Labels: chucking

Thus spake Jagadish @ 3:47 pm | Sledge/Read 0 sledge(s)
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Chucking law needs to be fine-tuned

Sri Lanka born New Zealand bio-mechanics expert Dr. Rene Ferdinands has analyzed the ICC's smart decision to allow upto 15 degrees of flexion and come to the conclusion that the rule needs to be made tighter to avoid the possibility of increased misuse of this provision by fast bowlers and spinners.

Labels: chucking

Thus spake Jagadish @ 6:20 pm | Sledge/Read 0 sledge(s)
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