Comment: Tough time for Ajmal but he may still bounce back

Published September 23, 2014
Ajmal, I am afraid from the beginning of his career, was considered a bowler with suspect action. -File photo
Ajmal, I am afraid from the beginning of his career, was considered a bowler with suspect action. -File photo

Sports in all disciplines are governed by its prescribed laws. Over-stepping or violating the norms brings in not only problems but also carries reprimand, suspension, punishment and, even on occasions, a life ban. Over the years we have been through it hundreds of times, whether it is athletics, boxing, football, cricket or for that matter even flying a kite.

At times even animal instinct takes over when a contest becomes too serious to be handled. It has not been uncommon to see the horror of a boxer or a footballer chewing or biting an opponent’s ear or an arm. The latest case of course was seen at the recently concluded football World Cup when Luis Suarez, a South American ace, bit his tackler and was banned. This he had been doing for some time. If a football was of the size of a cricket ball, he would have not spared it even.

In cricket, Saeed Ajmal has recently been slapped with suspension, not for biting the ball but for hyper-extension of his bowling arm, which in the eyes of the law is obviously considered to be against the rules and regulations of the ICC.

If you ‘Bend it like Beckham’, it is fair-play but if you do it like Ajmal then you cross the limits of 15 degrees laid down by prescribed laws. One would say that it is only a matter of a foot and an arm but we know that different laws dictate different games, and that is the difference.

David Beckham, the former England captain and a super star of his time, kicked the ball at such an angle when taking a free-kick that it swerved in flight like a boomerang before dipping past the goal post into the net or past it. A skill which has later been mastered by men like Cristiano Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and Lionel Messi to name a few.

However, Saeed Ajmal is neither a Beckham nor a Messi but an exponent of a different ball game in which bowlers, bowling at pace or slow as a spinner need to make sure that they are not taking undue advantage and keep themselves within the rules of the game so that they are seen through the naked eye as bowlers and not ‘throwers’ or ‘chuckers’.

Any suspicion about such mode of delivery is reported, then the bio-mechanists come into play as in the recent case of Ajmal who was reported in the Galle Test against Sri Lanka recently during the two-Test series.

Cricket is known to have faced and wrestled with contentious issues such as match-fixing, spot-fixing and ball tampering since its development in eighteenth century to 1864 when round-arm bowling replaced under-arm bowling and declared to be legal. The pioneers of over-arm bowling, the likes of William Lillywhite, John Willes and Broadbridge were initially considered as ‘throwers’ because they raised their arms above the allowed level.

Under-arm bowling continued even till the beginning of the 20th century before finally it had to disappear.

When Sydney Pardon, a Wisden Almanack editor from 1891 to 1925, raised alarm on the action of an Australian bowler Ernest Jones on their tour of England in 1896 that things started to roll and taken notice of. The English hosting the series would not dare call the bowler, therefore it took the Australian umpire Jim Phillips to call Jones for throwing in the MCG Test of 1897.

Later, he even called the honourable C.B. Fry of England and ended the England and Lancashire bowler Arthur Mold’s career in 1900-01 after he had already taken 1,673 wickets in first-class cricket.

Cuan McCarthy, a South African fast bowler touring England in 1951, was suspected for chucking but umpire Frank Chester was requested by Pelham Warner of MCC and a former England captain to spare him because ‘he is our guest’. But not in the case of Geoff Giffin another South African who was called for chucking in the Lord’s Test of 1960 and later Giffin had to bowl under-arm in an exhibition match later on the tour.

Calling of Ian Meckiff, the Australian left-arm fast bowler, in the Brisbane Test of 1963 by Colin Egar ended his career. Charlie Griffith who shared the new ball with Wesley Hall was as much a suspect with his fastest delivery and responsible for ending the career of Indian captain Nari Contractor with a chucking bouncer which resulted in brain operation.

Ajmal, I am afraid from the beginning of his career, was considered a bowler with suspect action and was even called in domestic cricket by umpire Riazuddin and also was reported in 2009 during an ODI in Sri Lanka. He did well however to come out of it and extend his career for his and Pakistan’s gain before being reported and found out again.

Unless one is Jim Laker, Lance Gibbs or a Ray Illingworth or Erappali Parassana, the off-spinners usually look different and with the introduction of the ‘Doosra’ it has become for off-spinners even more problematic when emulating Saqlain Mushtaq, Muralitharan or Ajmal.

Luckily, the ICC having come out with a kind of solution for them has allowed the spinners a 15 degrees allowance while bending your elbow but many transgress that limit and that is where the action of a bowler is questioned and Ajmal’s is suspended because of it.

It is not the end of the world for him if he works seriously hard to rectify his flaws he has developed over the years. His effectiveness may not be the same if and when he is allowed to be back but at least he can try. Nothing is impossible.

Published in Dawn, September 23rd , 2014

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