Williamson’s bowling reported
Black Caps captain Kane Williamson and Sri Lanka offspinner Akila Dananjaya have been reported for a suspect bowling action following last week’s first test in Galle.
A statement from the International Cricket Council yesterday said the match officials’ report, which was handed over to the management of both teams, cited concerns about the legality of the bowling actions of both players.
Williamson and Dananjaya’s actions have been reported before and the ICC said they would undergo testing within 14 days from the reporting date (August 18). In that period, both would be permitted to continue bowling in international cricket until the results of the testing are known.
The upshot is that Williamson and Dananjaya can bowl in the second test of the two-match series which starts in Colombo tomorrow.
In the first test which Sri Lanka won by six wickets, Williamson, 29, bowled only three overs of his part-time offspin for nine runs in Sri Lanka’s second innings when the hosts successfully chased down 268 for victory.
In 2014, Williamson became the first New Zealander to be reported for a suspect action following a test loss to the West Indies in Trinidad.
There were suspicions over Williamson’s jerky action after his international debut in 2010 but he was still ‘‘miffed’’ when first pulled up, according to then Black Caps coach Mike Hesson, who did admit the report ‘‘wasn’t completely unexpected’’.
He was allowed to resume bowling in international cricket five months later after he was cleared in tests by human movement specialists at the Iccaccredited centre at Chennai’s Sri Ramachandra University in India.
Williamson went through testing in November that year in between the second and third tests the Black Caps played against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates. He proved his action was within the permitted 15 degrees of flexion.
Meanwhile, Dananjaya, who took five wickets in New Zealand’s first innings of 249 all out in Galle, faces scrutiny over his action again.
The 25-year-old was banned in November, ruling him out of Sri Lanka’s tour of New Zealand, after an independent assessment of his action found he exceeded the level of tolerance permitted.
He was reported following Sri Lanka’s first test against England in Galle. Dananjaya was cleared to play in February ahead of Sri Lanka’s tour of South Africa and he attended the same centre in Chennai as Williamson did in 2014.