Akila rehabilitation programme is on
When off-spinner Sachitra Senanayake’s suspect action was being scrutinized.
Bare-chested, a suspended Akila Dananjaya keeps bowling. He doesn’t take his usual run-up. Instead, he stands behind the stumps and bowls the 22-yards at the stumps at the other crease. He will do this for the next four weeks, at least four days a week, as part of a rehabilitation process to correct his action.
This week, the International Cricket Council (ICC), the sport’s governing body, announced that tests had proved Dananjaya, one of Sri Lanka’s promising, has an illegal action. He flexed as much as 23 degrees in some deliveries–much higher than the legal limit of 15. While most of his deliveries exceeded the legal limit, a few were bowled below the allowed degree of elbow extension.
In baseball, a pitcher can throw the ball. But to throw like a pitcher is a heinous crime in cricket. Instead, players should bowl within the legal limit. Anyone who exceeds it is barred. So Dananjaya is a chucker and has been suspended from playing until he corrects his action and proves he can bowl legally. He has vowed to try.
Under the watchful eyes of Piyal Wijetunga–a spin bowling coach attached to Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC)–he now works on a specific programme to remodel his action while keeping the same effectiveness.
“We are hoping he’d be ready by the South African series, but one thing I have told the SLC and the Head Coach is that we should not rush him,” said Asanka Gurusinha, the Chief Cricket Operating Officer in charge of Sri Lanka Cricket’s High Performance Center and Brain Center. “We do not want him to be called for throwing again.”
The focus during the remediation period will be to reduce the elbow flexion angle at upper-arm-horizontal. If less elbow flexion (a straighter arm) is then maintained throughout the action, this might reduce the degree of elbow extension.
Akila Dananjaya’s rehabilitation programme in progress
“So we will be very cautious with him,” he said. “Once we feel he is ready to bowl, we will give him a match under test conditions to see where he stands. If we can be satisfied with the progress he’s made, we will lobby with the ICC to clear him.”
But why didn’t SLC’s high profile coaching unit identify this fundamental flaw in Danajaya’s bowling action until it was reported by umpires during the England tests series? After all he has been playing for Sri Lanka since 2012–when he was picked for the T20 World Cup.
“This baffles me too,” Gurusinha said. “It’s the responsibility of the coaching unit to identify these flaws and help players correct them before being exposed to the world. Even though I joined this place few months back, I will take the responsibility and will do our best to help him.”
Dananjaya, who made his international debut in the 2012 T20 World Cup, has played five Test matches taking 27 wickets, 30 ODIs picking 46 wickets and 16 T20I with 14 wickets. His suspension is a catastrophic for Sri Lanka, a side whose performances have been dwindling across all formats for many months due to various reasons.
With an ability to issue an array of deliveries with astounding control, Dananjaya has been a vital cog in the Sri Lankan team. Whether he will have the same venom once his action is remodeled remains to be seen.
But history suggests that many have struggled to come back to international cricket after changing their actions. Ruchira Perera, Sachithra Senanayake, Shaminda Eranga and Tharindu Kaushal never made the grade after remodeling.
“We have a huge problem now,” admits Gurusinha. “He use to control the innings a lot during the past several months and it’s a fresh headache for the Selectors and the Head Coach to balance out the team. We have Lakshan Sandakan, the Chinaman, but he still lacks control. Jeffrey Vandersay is another a promising spinner but is low on confidence and out for three months with an injury. So we do have a huge problem with finding a quality spinner for the side.”
This is one of the main issues facing Sri Lanka as they approach the World Cup in England. Gurusinha said Sri Lanka no longer produces quality spinners who can bowl on good tracks.
“The issue stems down to the grass-roots,” he opined. “There are so many spinners who can take wickets on spin-friendly tracks but they struggle on good sporting tracks. This is the problem we have. We need bowlers who could turn the ball on any track using figures. Take a team like India, Kuldip Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal can turn the ball viciously on any wicket. Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan not only turns the ball but has the speed and accuracy. So we need players of that caliber and the one we got now is suspended.”
As a solution Sri Lanka Cricket has now requested clubs to leave at least three millimeters of grass on pitches during the ongoing first class season and many believe this should be an order rather than a request to develop match winning spinners on any track in the world.