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There are certain elements of cricket that are considered to be unsavory or objectionable. One of them is throwing the ball instead of bowling it. A recent example occurred in South Africa, but it is by no means a new phenomenon.
Until the early 19th century, underarm bowling was the norm. Apparently, women found it difficult to navigate their long skirts using this form of delivery, with some resorting to roundarm delivery. The brother of one lady became something of a martyr in deploying the method in a match at Lord’s in 1816. This led to a new ruling, which stated that “the ball must be delivered underhand, not thrown or jerked, with the hand below the elbow at the time of delivering the ball.”
Despite the ruling, attempts to contravene it were frequent and contentious. Eventually, in 1835, roundarm bowling was legalized, deliveries allowed at shoulder height. The next battle centered on the legality of delivering the ball with the hand raised above the shoulder. In 1864, Law 10 was amended to allow this, provided the arm was straight and the ball was not thrown. Rotation or flexing of the wrist in the delivery swing was allowed.
In essence, the Law has remained the same for well over 100 years. Interpretation of whether the Law was being broken rested on the visual interpretation of an action by the umpire standing square to the striker.
No doubt, off-field discussions about the legality of an individual bowling action would have taken place prior to the call of no-ball. Several careers were ended by such calls between 1880 and 1950, after which an outbreak of illegal bowling occurred. Tougher enforcement of the Law and individual bans curbed the trend. At the time, Neville Cardus, one of cricket’s great writers, objected to throwing because it looked ugly.
Who knows what he would have made of the Sri Lankan, Muttiah Muralitharan, who claimed 800 Test wickets, the most yet. His right arm is congenitally bent and hyperextends during delivery. One Australian umpire called him for throwing in 1995, making clear that he would do so again. This is not the first time that a single umpire has taken the view that it is his responsibility to focus on a particular bowler’s action. In Muralitharan’s case, most other umpires were reluctant to call him, while the game’s administrators could not agree on his action’s legality
Most Australians seemed to be in little doubt. This was despite the availability of biomechanical testing, which showed that Muralitharan did not extend his arm any more than bowlers with actions that were considered to be legal. Indeed, the tests show that most bowlers flex and extend their arms as they rotate around the shoulder, to varying degrees.
As a result, thresholds were drawn up for the allowable amount of elbow straightening — 10 degrees for fast bowlers, 7.5 for medium pacers and five degrees for spin bowlers. Subsequent testing, based on empirical evidence in the early 2000s, provided a basis on which the tolerance threshold was raised to 15 degrees for all bowlers. Actions deemed to be illegal are usually well in excess of that level.
There have been occasions when I have been playing or watching cricket, that, instinctively, it looks as if a bowler is throwing the ball. People on either side turned to ask the question — was it a throw? It is possible that those whose bowling actions appeared suspect were well within the threshold which currently applies.
The previous Law which allowed no flexing of the arm is now proved to be draconian, condemning some high-quality bowlers to opprobrium. These days, assistance is provided to a bowler who is called for throwing. An independent review is conducted and, if the action is deemed to be illegal, remedial assistance is available. Although suspended from international cricket, the bowler is not subject to the public ordeal that was once the norm.
In January, Joburg Super Kings left-arm spinner Aaron Phangiso was suspended from bowling in the SA20 cricket league after an independent panel ruled his action illegal. His team has requested that the bowler’s action be biomedically tested. Phangiso has claimed two four-wicket hauls in the tournament and played 37 white ball internationals for South Africa. He had been reported previously for having a suspect action in 2016. After remedial work, he was cleared to resume playing.
One of Pakistan’s fastest bowlers, 22-year-old Mohammad Husnain, was reported for an illegal action during the 2021-22 Australian Big Bash League. This was confirmed by tests in Lahore that showed his elbow extension to be beyond the 15-degree threshold. After remedial work, Husnain was reassessed and cleared to return to play in June. Shortly afterward, while bowling in the Hundred competition in England, he dismissed Australian Marcus Stoinis, who made a throwing motion as walked from the field. No official censure was given to Stoinis, although commentators and Pakistani supporters were left unimpressed.
It does seem that the main characteristic of the issue of illegal, thrown deliveries in cricket is its ability to recur, almost always with acrimony. It is pertinent to ask why any bowler would intentionally do so, given the detection systems now in place. Clearly, a throw travels more quickly, providing a greater opportunity to dismiss the batter. It also generates a greater threat of physical danger. More than one bowler has been rumored to slip in the occasional “throw” in attempting to realize these opportunities.
This does not explain the existence of bowlers who are assessed to be bowling illegally when they do not set out to do so. Fortunately, scientific metrics have generated tolerance thresholds by which those with certain physiological structures, which lead to bowling actions, judged visually to be illegal, can be more realistically assessed.
It ought to lead them to be judged more sympathetically, but old attitudes die hard, if Husnain’s experience is typical. The line between legal and illegal bowling is fine, the latter falling into cricket’s bete noire, that of cheating.
RIYADH: Pakistan’s fast-bowling legend Wasim Akram met the chairman of the Saudi Arabian Cricket Federation, Prince Saud bin Mishaal, on Thursday to talk about the future of the sport in the country.
According to a message posted on the federation’s official Twitter account, @cricketsaudi, the prince “hosted international cricket legend @wasimakramlive Wasim Akram in Riyadh, and discussed future development of the sport in the Kingdom.”
Akram, considered one of the best left-arm fast bowlers in the history of the sport and nicknamed the “Sultan of Swing” for his fast-bowling skills, gave some valuable input and expressed excitement about the upcoming Saudi cricket league, sources said.
During the meeting he was presented with a custom-made jersey by the SACF, according to the federation’s CEO, Tariq Sagga.
Akram’s visit follows a recent strengthening of cricket ties between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. Last week for example, after a meeting with Prince Saud in Riyadh, Javed Afridi, owner of Pakistan Super League franchise Peshawar Zalmi, announced that his team is set to play exhibition matches in the Kingdom.
“In future, the Zalmi team will visit and play with the Saudi (national) team,” he said. Afridi also assured Prince Saud that his team will provide its complete support to efforts to promote cricket in Saudi Arabia.
Pakistan and the Kingdom have diverse bilateral economic, defense and sporting ties. Last month, Pakistan’s women’s football team took part in a four-nation international tournament in the Kingdom, in which they finished runners-up to the hosts.
Since it was established in 2020, the SACF has launched a series of major initiatives, including a national cricket championship, a corporate cricket tournament, a league for expatriate workers, and social programs in several cities.
It oversees 15 official associations representing the sport in nine regions and has announced plans to establish additional associations in the remaining regions to ensure cricket activities take place across the country.
There is so much cricket being played professionally and internationally at the moment that one of the International Cricket Council’s objectives to grow the game worldwide is coming to fruition. Opportunities to play on a world stage are now afforded to players who could only have dreamed about it a few years ago.
This is true for the UAE men cricketers who are playing in the DPO World ILT20. Each of the six teams have four UAE players allocated to them, of whom two must be selected for the playing 11. The experience that they gain from playing alongside some of the world’s best cricketers will be invaluable for their development.
Rohan Mustafa has been opening the batting for Desert Vipers alongside Englishman Alex Hales, watching him score 418 runs in five matches, almost twice as many as anyone else.
Mustafa is an experienced cricketer at 33 years of age and may not have that much to learn compared with Vriitya Aravind, who is 20 years old and playing for the MI Emirates along with Muhammad Waseem. The latter started brightly with scores of 71 and 40 in his first two innings but posted low scores in his next three innings. Aravind has made only one start so far.
There have been creditable bowling performances by UAE players. Akif Raja has played in all five matches for Dubai Capitals, claiming six wickets, including one with his second delivery of the tournament.
Junaid Siddique has played five matches for Sharjah Warriors, also claiming six wickets at an economical rate. However, the most eye-catching performance was by Sanchi Sharma. He has taken six wickets for the Gulf Giants, three of them coming against the Abu Dhabi Knight Riders, whose number two, three and four batters were his victims, sufficient to earn him player of the match.
The DP World IT20 reached its halfway stage of the 30 round-robin matches on Jan. 24, when the Desert Vipers beat MI Emirates to join the Gulf Giants at the top of the table on eight points after five matches. The Abu Dhabi Knight Riders are rooted to the foot of the table with one point gained in a rain-abandoned match.
In South Africa, two-thirds of the SA20 competition had been completed on Jan. 24, when it took a break until Feb. 2, while the South African’s men’s team take on England’s in a three-match ODI series. The break comes with Pretoria Capitals leading the way on 23 points from seven matches, followed by Sunrisers Eastern Cape and Paarl Royals, both with 17 points from eight matches.
The opportunities provided by these tournaments are for men but, elsewhere in South Africa, the first women’s Under-19 T20 World Cup is taking place in Potchefstroom and Benoni in the north of the country. Originally scheduled for January 2021, it was delayed by COVID-19 to December 2021 and then again by the pandemic to January 2023.
Twelve teams automatically qualified and four others — UAE, Indonesia, Scotland, Rwanda — via regional qualifying groups. It is the first time that either Rwanda or Indonesia have qualified for an ICC World Cup tournament at any level, while for Scotland, UAE, Indonesia and the US, it represents first-time qualification for a women’s ICC World Cup at any level. New opportunities opened up for them.
The 16 teams were divided into four groups, playing against the other three teams in the group. After those matches, the top three teams in each group progressed to a Super Six League stage. In this, the qualifying teams from Group A played two of the qualifying teams from Group D and qualifying teams from Group B played against two of the qualifying teams from Group C. New Zealand and England have qualified from Group 2 for the semifinals, to be joined by India and Australia from Group 1.
Although the UAE reached the Super Sixes, the team was unable to progress further. Rwanda used its opportunity well, making an impressive debut in a World Cup tournament. The team beat Zimbabwe in the group stage and then caused a major upset by overcoming the West Indies in a Super Six match. Rwanda’s two spinners, Sylvia Usabyimana and Marie Tumukunde, each claimed four wickets, the latter for only four runs, to ruin their opponent’s chances of reaching the semifinals.
South Africa is also host to the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, 2023, which begins on Feb. 10. All matches will be played in the south of the country, with the final at Cape Town on Feb. 26.
Ten teams will compete, divided into two groups of five, from which the top two teams will progress to the semifinals. Ireland and Bangladesh joined eight automatic qualifiers via a qualifying tournament in Sept. 2022.
If all of this is not enough, the inaugural Women’s India Premier League is set to launch in March, 2023, after a long wait. It will be comprised of five teams who will compete in a double round-robin league that leads to a play-off stage. Each squad is to comprise 18 players and a maximum of six overseas players, five of whom can be in a playing 1, but one of whom has to be from an ICC associate member.
On Jan. 25, sealed bids were opened to reveal the winners of the five franchises. These bids totalled $573 million, exceeding, on relative conversion rates, the amount paid for the men’s first IPL in 2008. The highest bid of $158 million was submitted by Adani Sportsline Ltd. for the Ahmedabad franchise, other successful bids sitting in a range of $93 million to $111 million.
In 15 years, professional cricket has spun in a quite different direction in terms of format and financial rewards, starting with men. Given that the first women’s T20 World Cup was played in 2009 and the first professional contracts were introduced in 2014, opportunities have been opened up for women in a way that seemed most unlikely at the time.
INDORE, India: Powered by centuries from openers Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill, India beat New Zealand by 90 runs on Tuesday to win the third one-day international and sweep the series.
Gill scored 112 runs off 78 balls and Sharma struck 101 off 85 as India piled up 385-9 in 50 overs.
In reply, Devon Conway scored 138 off 100 but it wasn’t enough as New Zealand were bowled out for 295 runs in 41.2 overs at Holkar Cricket Stadium. Shardul Thakur (3-45) and Kuldeep Yadav (3-62) did most of the damage.
The Black Caps lost the three-match series 3-0. India won the first ODI in Hyderabad by 16 runs and the second ODI in Raipur by eight wickets.
Put in to bat, the Indian openers shared an impressive stand of 212 runs in 26.1 overs.
It was the highest first-wicket partnership in ODIs against New Zealand, exceeding 201 runs by Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir for India in 2009.
Sharma reached 100 off 83 balls, his second-quickest ODI century. India’s skipper hit nine fours and six sixes for his 30th ODI hundred.
At the other end, Gill scored a third ODI hundred in four innings. He hit 13 fours and five sixes to reach the landmark off 72 balls.
Overall, Gill scored 360 runs in three innings against New Zealand. It was the joint-highest for any batsman in a bilateral three-match ODI series along with Pakistan’s Babar Azam against West Indies in 2016.
India then lost both openers in 12 deliveries, and continued losing wickets at regular intervals. From 230-2 in 28 overs, its last seven wickets added only 155 runs in 22 overs.
Hardik Pandya held anchor with a 38-ball 54 after Virat Kohli (36), Ishan Kishan (17) and Suryakumar Yadav (14) were out cheaply on a batting-friendly pitch.
Jacob Duffy took 3-100 in 10 overs, and Blair Tickner finished with 3-76.
Chasing 386, Pandya bowled Kiwi opener Finn Allen for a two-ball duck.
But Conway held his end to propel New Zealand’s innings. He scored 50 off 41 balls, and then accelerated to 100 off 71 balls, including seven fours and seven sixes.
Conway’s 138 was New Zealand’s third-highest ODI score against India. Overall, he hit 12 fours and eight sixes. Henry Nicholls scored 42 off 40 balls to put on 106 runs for the second wicket.
Thakur struck a double blow in the 26th over to remove Daryl Mitchell (24) and Tom Latham (0) off successive deliveries. He also dismissed Glenn Phillips for 5 to break New Zealand’s resolve.
Contributions from Mitchell Santner (34) and Michael Bracewell (26) were not enough to trouble India’s score.
RAIPUR, India: Mohammed Shami led an inspired pace attack to set up a crushing eight-wicket, series-clinching win for India in the second one-day international against New Zealand on Saturday.
Shami, India’s pace spearhead, returned figures of 3-18 to help dismiss the Black Caps for 108 after the hosts elected to bowl first in Raipur.
Skipper Rohit Sharma made 51 and Shubman Gill an unbeaten 40 as India romped home in 20.1 overs to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.
At the toss Rohit took a while to announce his decision to field and told the presenter he “forgot” about the team call.
But things soon turned serious when Shami struck in the first over and with his fellow quicks had the tourists reeling at 15-5 by the 11th over.
Glenn Phillips made 36 as he combined with the middle- and lower-order batsmen including Michael Bracewell (22) and Mitchell Santner (27) to take the total past 100, but the innings lasted only 34.3 overs.
After Shami’s opening-ball heroics, fellow quick Hardik Pandya and spinner Washington Sundar took over to return two wickets each.
Shami bowled Finn Allen on the fifth ball of the first over at a venue making its international debut.
Mohammed Siraj sent back Henry Nicholls, caught at slip for two, before Shami and Pandya took two wickets caught-and-bowled to rattle the visitors, whose skipper Tom Latham fell for one.
Phillips and Bracewell attempted to rebuild and hit back in a 41-run sixth-wicket stand before Shami broke through.
He got Bracewell, who hit 140 in his team’s 12-run loss in the opener, caught behind.
Phillips kept up the defiance in another partnership with the left-handed Santner. The pair put on 47 before Pandya bowled Santner.
Phillips departed in an attempt to hit out spinner Sundar only to be caught at mid-wicket, and the innings soon folded.
The Indian openers Rohit and Gill, who hit a match-winning 208 in the opener, put on 72 runs for the opening wicket.
Rohit struck some delightful boundaries including a six off his trademark hook shot to ease into the target.
He kept up the charge as he reached his 50 in 47 balls but soon fell lbw off fast bowler Henry Shipley.
Virat Kohli hit a few boundaries before he was stumped by Latham off Santner for 11.
Gill hit the winning four with the left-handed Ishan Kishan at the other end.
The final match is on Tuesday in Indore.
MELBOURNE: Afghanistan cricket officials blasted Australia’s decision on Thursday to cancel their men’s one-day international cricket series.
Cricket Australia cited recent heavier restrictions on women’s rights in Afghanistan by the Taliban government for axing the three ODIs in March in the United Arab Emirates.
The Afghanistan Cricket Board said it was “extremely disappointed and saddened by the pathetic statement” from Cricket Australia and it would complain to the International Cricket Council.
It accused CA of prioritizing political interests over fair play and sportsmanship, undermining the integrity of the game, and damaging the relationship between the two countries.
“Cricket has played a significant role in promoting unity and national pride in Afghanistan,” the board said. “After years of war and conflict, cricket has helped to bring people together and provide a sense of normalcy to the country. It has also been an important source of hope and inspiration for all Afghans, particularly young people.”
It said it would rethink the participation of Afghan players in the Big Bash League if the decision was not reversed.
Afghan fast bowler Naveen ul Haq Murid called scrapping the series “childish” and accused Australia of taking away Afghans’ only reason for happiness instead of being supportive.
When Kabul fell to the Taliban in 2021, women were banned from playing sports on the grounds that doing so would contravene Islamic laws requiring their hair and skin to be covered.
Recent Taliban restrictions on women’s and girls’ education, employment opportunities and their ability to access parks and gyms were cited by Cricket Australia for dropping the men’s ODIs following consultation with the Australian government and other groups.
“CA is committed to supporting growing the game for women and men around the world, including in Afghanistan, and will continue to engage with the Afghanistan Cricket Board in anticipation of improved conditions for women and girls in the country,” CA said.
Australia gave similar reasons for axing a one-off test match against Afghanistan in Hobart, Australia, in November 2021.
In December, the Taliban banned women from completing higher education, having prohibited attendance at gyms and parks a month earlier.
Women are also banned from attending school beyond the sixth grade and working most jobs outside of their homes.
In November 2021, the ICC formed a working group aiming to support and review women’s and men’s cricket in Afghanistan but more than a year later, the country remains the only full member of the ICC without a fully operational women’s team. Afghanistan is also the only full member not represented at the Under-19 Women’s T20 World Cup in South Africa starting this week.
