Senanayake bowling action to be tested in Cardiff
Sri Lanka off-spinner Sachithra Senanayake who was reported for a suspected illegal bowling action during his side’s seven-run victory over England in the fourth One-Day International at Lord’s will undergo scrutiny in England itself.
Although Senanayake who is not part of the Lankan Test contingent, returned to the island, and is scheduled to go back within the next few days.
Sri Lanka Cricket’s CEO Ashley de Silva speaking to the Sunday Times said “Senanayake will go in for ICC scrutiny at the Cardiff Metropolitan University within the next few days. We have notified the ICC our option and they in turn will reserve a date for Senanayake to attend the sessions.”
Senanayake was reported at the end of the match by on-field umpires Marais Erasmus and Ian Gould, both from the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Umpires along with TV Umpire Chris Gaffaney, and Jeff Crowe of the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees. However he was permitted to continue bowling in international cricket till the results of the tests are known.
Meanwhile the ICC Cricket Committee which met last week made some recommendations on playing issues to the Chief Executives’ Committee (CEC) and, if it is a policy matter, the ICC Board for approval.
Among the hot topics discussed was the Buttler issue. The ICC Cricket Committee has commented “The Cricket Committee expects players to observe the Spirit of Cricket at all times, but it also believes that a non-striker should be deterred from leaving the crease before the time the bowler normally delivers the ball. It did not support a formal warning being introduced prior to a bowler being eligible to run out a non-striker, but it did support the view expressed by most captains that the umpires shouldn’t ask the captain whether he wanted the appeal to stand before making a final decision. The Law strikes a sensible balance between preventing a batsman from gaining an advantage whilst at the same time preventing the bowler from unfairly seducing the batsman into leaving his crease by faking to deliver and then holding on to the ball.”
Also discussed by the committee was the illegal actions – the committee report said that there are a number of bowlers with suspect actions currently playing international cricket, and that the ICC’s reporting and testing procedures are not adequately scrutinizing these bowlers.
It recommended that changes be considered to encourage umpires and referees to identify suspect bowlers with greater confidence, to use the expertise of the biomechanists working in this area to assume a greater role during the assessment process, and to allow for ongoing scrutiny of bowlers once they have been identified under the ICC procedures.
Members of the committee were also updated on the project to increase the number of illegal action testing centres around the cricketing world, noting that Cardiff Metropolitan University was now accredited to conduct illegal action testing for the ICC, and that other facilities in India, Australia, England and South Africa were likely to be accredited over coming months.
However two Sri Lankan members in this Anil Kumble led committee – Kumar Sangakkara and Ranjan Madugalle were not present.