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| May 22, 2002 | Wednesday | Rabi-ul-Awwal 8,1423 |
Sri Lankan pacer Perera reported for suspect action
LONDON, May 21: Sri Lanka seamer Ruchira Perera has been reported for a suspect bowling action after the first Test against England, the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced Tuesday.
Match referee Gundappa Viswanath confirmed that match umpires Srinivas Venkataraghavan of India and Daryl Harper of Australia reported the young left-arm seamer after Monday’s final day of the drawn match at Lord’s.
Two video compilations of Perera’s action were studied by the umpires.
The news will come as a blow to the Sri Lankans, whose top bowler Muttiah Muralitharan was called for throwing earlier in his career before being cleared.
The 25-year-old Perera, in his seventh Test, took three wickets in the first innings and two more in the second as the team’s most successful bowler at Lord’s.
His whippy action drew considerable adverse comment from television and newspaper journalists during the game, prompting Sri Lanka coach Dav Whatmore to back the player, saying: “He’s played around the world and has never had this trouble before.” A bowler is not allowed to straighten his arm during the final phase of a delivery.
Viswanath said: “The reporting of any bowler at the highest level of the game is a serious matter which has to be handled with fairness and consideration to the player, his team and the opposing team.
“Both umpires took the opportunity to satisfy themselves fully that there was a concern with Ruchira Perera’s bowling action. Their detailed report has been passed to the ICC and the Sri Lankan team management.”
Perera can continue to play international cricket while working with a specialist advisor appointed by his national cricket board. They will report back to the ICC within six weeks.
Sri Lanka team manager Chandra Schaffter responded in a statement: “We will follow the procedure scrupulously and will co-operate with the ICC fully.”
He added that, as per the rules, Sri Lanka “will consider Ruchira Perera for selection for the next Test match.”
The second match of the three-Test series begins on May 30 at Edgbaston in Birmingham.
A player reported three times within 12 months for throwing could face a ban.
Muralitharan, a prodigious spinner with an unorthodox action and who missed the first Test through a shoulder injury, was called for throwing while on tour in Australia in 1995-96 and 1998-99.
His case caused an international furore and led to the ICC reviewing the way it dealt with throwing cases.
Expert studies later concluded Muralitharan, the world’s top bowler for the past two years and who now boasts 412 wickets, only gave the illusion of throwing because of a bowling arm permanently bent since birth.
Pakistan pace bowler Shoaib Akhtar is the other leading player to have been reported in recent years — he was reported twice within a year — leading to remedial work with ICC advisors. His unusual action, however, has also been cleared by expert analysis, putting it down to an abnormally flexible right elbow.—Reuters
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