Combating Lanka’s Chuck Norris syndrome

“Even when we released him to operate in the Mercantile Cricket Tournament, there were certain deliveries that we were not happy with. There were instances that we had to go back to the remedial process. But now we are happy with his action and we have proposed that first he is exposed to a private test like what we did at the Western Australian University and once satisfied to put him back to the ICC test”.

Jayaratne added that once the remedial work has been affected upon a player, they are no longer worried about the original footage. They would only test his present action and if the deliveries are within the ICC stipulations they would give permission for him to bowl at international level.

The SLC-run Max Academy’s head also said, “Remember that the action that is passed is the action that the bowler is tested upon. He cannot deviate from it. By chance if the bowler is reported again and is proven to be extending his elbow, he will then face a stiffer ban.”

Now SLC also has purchased some ICC recommended cameras to do the initial testing of bowlers with suspect action. They have been on the trail of in local bowlers with suspect action for the past six months. So far they have detected more than one hundred bowlers and the Max Academy coaches are working on them. According to the Max Academy Chief, more than seventy per cent of the troubled bowlers are off spinners.

Jayaratne added, “At the initial stages, when we were checking upon some school cricketers -- including schools with big names – school representatives, some accompanied by lawyers, came to meet us –. But, once we explain the gravity of the situation and the work we intend doing, they let us go through the rehabilitation process”.

In this process, educating the coaches at district level is the most effective remedy, Jayaratne asserts. He feels the message has to travel to all levels of the process and the SLC is now effectively on the job.