Cricket’s administrators have danced around the contentious issue of chucking for too long and it’s about time something was done to reform bowling laws, says New Zealand skipper Stephen Fleming.
Fleming, one of the sport’s most astute tacticians, said proposed changes to the rules governing bowling actions announced by the International Cricket Council this week are a step in the right direction.
”For too long [chucking] was the ugly sister that wasn’t being talked about, but now it’s out in the open and there’s some positive steps being put in place,” Fleming told reporters on Wednesday, on the eve of the first Test against Australia.
”Whether they’re the right ones, we’ll wait for the information.”
Fleming was meeting on Wednesday with Tim May, a former Australian spin bowler and member of the ICC panel that recommended the bowling reforms, to get the details of the proposed changes.
The amended rules would allow all bowlers to straighten their arms 15º during the delivery arc, rather than be judged by three tiers that restrict slow bowlers to a 5º flex, medium-pace bowlers to 7,5º and fast bowlers to 10º.
Extensive research and testing of bowlers by the ICC revealed that the majority exceed the allowable flex limits at times, although it’s rarely apparent to the naked eye.
In the past, an umpire had the jurisdiction to no-ball a bowler he thought was breaching the limits and report the infraction — commonly called chucking or throwing — to the ICC. Sometimes bowlers were ordered to undergo remedial work on their actions and, on rare occasions, persistent chuckers were rubbed out of the game.
Muttiah Muralitharan, the Sri Lankan who held the Test record for most wickets at 532 until he was sidelined following a shoulder operation this season, has been mired in chucking controversies his whole career.
He was cleared of chucking when he proved a birth abnormality prevented him from completely straightening his elbow, but has since been banned from bowling a delivery he calls a ”doosra” because tests showed his elbow flexed 14º for that ball.
Muralitharan sparked a heated exchange with Australian cricketers this week when he said he’d been victimised for years and claimed testing showed that leading Aussie fast bowlers Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie and Brett Lee were all chuckers.
Fleming, who was sick with a virus and didn’t arrive in Australia until the weekend, has taken a backseat while debate raged over the merits of the proposed laws, which need to be ratified at an ICC meeting in Melbourne next year before coming into effect.
”What we have to be careful of is the knee-jerk reactions when a statement comes out and we get this emotive type reporting that starts throwing players names up without basis,” said Fleming, speaking on the issue for the first time.
”I’m very conservative on this topic. I like that there’s action being put in place and I wait to see and hope that it moves forward positively.
”I can tell you New Zealand Cricket has been very pro-active with it over the last 24 months and one thing we’re happy about it is some movement.”
Fleming said Test captains should be allowed to review the evidence that has led to the ICC subcommittee making its recommendation to alter the laws.
”It shouldn’t be secretive,” he said.
Australian captain Ricky Ponting said the debate over the watering down of the laws had overshadowed the series-opening test in Brisbane, but he was happier with the proposals after May explained them to his team.
”We still need to know a bit more about it. We need to see it in action and see it in place,” he said.
”The good thing about it for us was to hear it from Tim and for us to forget about it. It’s nothing we’ve got any control over it now.” – Sapa-AP