The assistant coach, Paul
Farbrace, has no intention of letting England be distracted ahead of the third
Test in the West Indies - either by internal changes or external barbs. England are 1-0 ahead going into Friday’s
decider in Barbados, in sight of a first away series victory since India in
December 2012. But they are also striving to keep other agendas out of their
eyeline, with the England and Wales Cricket Board currently courting a high-profile
director of cricket to take responsibility for the national side and a first
Ashes gauntlet already laid down by Steve Smith.
There has thus far been more
speculation than clarity around the recruitment of a new supremo – a position
created after the managing director Paul Downton was sacked at the start of the
Caribbean tour. Former captains Andrew Strauss, Michael Vaughan and Alec
Stewart have all shown a tentative interest, though the precise job
specification has yet to be made public. England’s head coach, Peter Moores,
and Farbrace himself, would be forgiven for wondering where they would stand
should any of those voices enter the dressing room but one thing is certain:
another win would go a long way towards strengthening their hand.
Even
as West Indies struggle against the visitors, losing a Test and drawing another one with lot of
drama – there are more than handful of West Indians out here performing well in
IPL 8 - those who come readily come to
mind are : Sunil Narine, Kieron Pollard,
Dwayne Smith, Dwayne Bravo, Andre
Russel, Lendl Simmons, Chris Gayle, Darren Sammy ..
Of them, the
mystery spinner Sunil Narine skipped the World Cup and returned to IPL after
undergoing tests – and sadly, his return
from a bowling ban is not lasting too long. The news is that he has now been banned from bowling offspinners after
being reported for suspect action on 22 April.
Narine, who has played five times for KKR this season, made a return to
competitive cricket with a new action and hasn't been very successful either —
picking up two wickets at an average of 73.50.
Thought there have been bowlers with suspect actions
– many fast bowlers went unscathed.
Somehow, the off-spinners have been taunted by this far too often ! It
is their ‘doosra’ that lands them in trouble - Saqlain Mushtaq who hit it big early, was successful but many
other off-spinners were reviewed and questioned on the legitimacy of their
doosras – they include : Bruce Yardley, Kumara Dharmasena, Muttiah Muralitharan,
Harbhajan Singh, Shoaib Malik, Saeed Ajmal,
Johan Botha., Sacharitha Senanayake, Marlon Samuels, Shane Shillingford, Mohammed Hafeez, Prosper Utseya, Sohag Gazi.............. and do you know one
unlikely Indian who was called for ‘throwing’ at Bridgetown in 1983.
Narine was in Chennai at - Sri
Ramachandra Medical College and Research Institute, a deemed university operating in Porur, Chennai for a
biomechanical analysis of his bowling action.
Sunil Narine was praised by players and the media alike for retaining
his 'mystery' despite the change in action — but the officials spotted
something awry in the match against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
It is not good news
for KKR and Narine as the BCCI Suspect Bowling Action Committee after reviewing the
evidence of the match footage and the analysis provided by SRASSC has concluded that Narine’s bowling action for his off-spinner,
contravenes Law 24.2 (as read with Law 24.3) of the Laws of Cricket and
therefore the player is now banned from bowling the
off-spinner in matches organised by the BCCI, including the IPL. He may
however continue to bowl his other deliveries (the knuckle ball and the quicker
straight ball)," said a BCCI statement.
Narine wasn't
picked for KKR's sixth match and it remains to be seen whether he plays again
for the defending champions. If Narine bowls the offspinner again this season,
then the on-field umpires would apply Law 24.2 and call no ball and, at the end
of the match, would issue a further report.
Narine may undergo a course of bowling rehabilitation and take
corrective measures to ensure that his action does not contravene Law 24 and
may then request a further official assessment by the committee.
BCCI
had earlier banned Narine, whose ‘doosra’ was under the scanner, during the
2014 Champions League T20 ~and how his off-spin is found illegal !!
Narine with his
re-worked action, has had a rather
ordinary time for the Kolkata Knight Riders in the ongoing IPL season - with
just two wickets from five games at an economy rate of 7.35. Now that he will
not be allowed to bowl his stock delivery, the West Indian’s effectiveness will
be reduced further. It remains to be seen if the Knight Riders play him since
the Kolkata side has some viable spin options ...
Though
not in a serious note, the Indian wicket-keeper Syed Kirmani was called for
‘chucking’ in a Test at Bridgetown in 1983.
With regards – S.
Sampathkumar
30th Apr
2015.
No comments:
Post a Comment