Umpires reluctant to call suspect actions – game in a quandary
Two of Sri Lanka’s leading Schoolboy cricketers who have been included in the twenty man squad for the current Pakistan tour and next years Under 19 World Cup are reportedly having suspect bowling actions.
One has already been reported by match officials following the conclusion of the first three day game against the touring Pakistan Under 19 team, earlier this week at Hambantota. The second player who was reported last year for a suspect bowling action has re modeled his action. However according to reliable sources it is highly unlikely that his re-modeled action will get the green light from match officials. This player is currently playing in the 2nd three day game against Pakistan.
What is surprising and shocking is both these players have claimed heaps of wickets playing for their respective schools and been instrumental in their teams recent successes. However umpires at school level have turned a blind eye to date on their actions, permitting them to continue to torment opposing batsman with illegal deliveries.
Only last week at a Division One First Eleven Tournament match between two leading Colombo Schools an off spinner who’s action was believed to be suspect continued to bowl as the officiating Umpires preferred to ignore the bowlers action. However, the Coach of the opposing party who were the hosts, videoed the action and showed it to the Visitors team Coach after the game.
The visitors Coach had a close look at the video and later accepted the fact that his off spinner has a suspect bowling action. The Off spinner picked up four wickets with his suspect bowling action and ensured that his team obtained first innings points. The hosts on the other hand were left defeated in the game, and cheated by the system.
Why the officiating umpires refrained from reporting the suspect bowling action is a mystery! Is it due to an Old Boy of the School holding a position in the Umpires Committee? And if the bowler is reported for a Suspect action the umpires’ immediate future will be in disarray!
With the commencement of the Sri Lanka Schools Cricket First Eleven tournament and the Under 13 tournament in full swing the number of bowlers being reported with suspect actions has increased rapidly. The Sunday Times learns from reliable sources that the number which stood below 100 at the end of last season has today reached the two hundred mark. “The situation is alarming as the number of illegal bowling actions are on the rise”, the source added.
Recently ICC’ High Performing Manager Richard Dunne was in Sri Lanka to conduct a series of workshops to educate local Umpires and as a result it is believed that Umpires are reporting any actions that are suspected to be illegal. However at the same time it must be noted that certain Umpires are reluctant to report certain bowlers although their action is suspected to be illegal, especially at the Senior level(First Eleven).This is mainly due to the immense pressure put on the Umpires by the School Coaches and sometimes by the Old Boys, Parents etc.
Hence, it is evident that certain Coaches, Umpires and officials are part of this problem which is growing and very soon will blow up into a major crisis. Thus, it is up to Sri Lanka Cricket to come down hard on such Coaches, Umpires and officials and save Sri Lanka’s next generation of Cricketers. SLC should think in terms of suspending these Umpires and Coaches, if not this problem will only continue to grow and ruin Sri Lanka Cricket locally and internationally.