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| November 30, 2005 | Wednesday | Shawwal 26, 1426 |
Wasim slams ICC over chucking laws
MUMBAI, Nov 29: Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram has criticised the International Cricket Council (ICC) over laws governing illegal bowling actions and thinks players from the sub-continent are being unfairly treated.
He slammed cricket officials for the treatment of Pakistan seamer Shabbir Ahmed, who was reported for chucking in the first Test against England this month.
“Take the case of Shabbir. He was cleared three times earlier and he has been called again,” said Wasim who took 414 Test wickets in his career.
“What is surprising is that most of this is happening to bowlers from our part of the world,” he said.
“Nobody from other countries — South Africa, Australia and England — have been called recently. This is because our representation at the ICC is minimal.”
The subject of illegal bowling actions, or chucking, has often been controversial, with Sri Lankan off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan, India’s Harbhajan Singh and Pakistan strike bowler Shoaib Akhtar coming under scrutiny.
The ICC introduced a new threshold in March which allows bowlers to straighten their arms up to 15 degrees.
Previously, spinners were only permitted to straighten their arms by five degrees, medium pacers 7.5 degrees and fast bowlers by 10.
Wasim said the laws were still confusing.
“I can’t understand what this 15 degrees angle is about. If I can’t understand, I don’t know how a layman will,” he said. “Either a bowler throws or he does not throw.”—Reuters
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