RUBBER STAMPS TO RUBBER BULLETS

Blow me down with a feather. The UWA rubber stampers have actually given a chucker the bullet:

ICC suspends Shillingford for illegal bowling action

The ICC has suspended Shane Shillingford, the West Indies offspinner, from bowling in international cricket after his action was found illegal. His team-mate Marlon Samuels, who is a part-time offspinner, has been prohibited from bowling quicker deliveries in international cricket.

The pair were reported for suspect action on November 16, during the second Test against India in Mumbai. They underwent biomechanical analysis in Perth on November 29, before the start of the series against New Zealand.

Naturally West Indies coach Ottis Gibson supports Shillingford and says the offie should get off, even though Gibson must know Shillingford chucks (and still picks him). His previous comment on the chucking rule was probably not meant to come out the way it did:

Earlier this week, when asked about the pending report, Gibson hoped that Shillingford would not be singled out. "There are a few people around the world bowling with similar, if not worse actions, so I expect him to be cleared for sure."

Unless Gibson was trying a little media messaged take-them-all-down. "You suspend Shillingford, but what about Him and Him and Him.

Comments

[Nick]

Great win for the ICC. They've taken out a minor player of colour...from somewhere with a toothless board. Meanwhile, business as usual elsewhere.

[Shep]

Lehaman got fined for questioning Samuels action during the Big Bash last year. Does he get his money back?

[Tony Tea]

While Murali's figures stand un-asterisked, all action on chucking is a façade.

[Carrot]

Not sure that Shillingford being "a minor player of colour" has much to do with it, Nick - just about everyone else that's ever been under a chucking cloud in the international game has been as well! The only white guy I can think of is Johan Botha.

It is rife, though - Gibson does have a point about that. Not everyone can have a deformities of the elbow/shoulder, either! Abdur Razzak of Bangladesh is another prime suspect. I saw him bowl against the Netherlands a couple of seasons back, and he really was taking the term "darts" pretty literally. I still don't honestly know what to believe about Murali given abnormal arm thing, but there's no question that his legacy has allowed any number of borderline and dodgy actions to prosper in the game. Maybe not his fault or what he intended, but it's all there in front of us.

[Professor Rosseforp]

"Maybe not his fault or what he intended, but it's all there in front of us" -- and exactly as predicted by a lot of Aftergrogbloggers.
During the last couple of tests there have been a lot of slow-motion clips of Mitchell Johnson where his arm action is clearly visible. On the basis of that evidence, I would be happy to say there is no doubt about the legality of his bowling action.
The "abnormal aram thing" is an irrelevancy, and always has been. It has always been legal to bowl with a bent arm, or a straight arm, but not to move between one or the other just prior to the delivery. Chandrasekhar had an abnormal arm, and in the pictures I have seen I would say Alan Davidson had very loose elbow, wrist and shoulder joints.
The ultra-flexible wrist is irrelevant -- Murali's is certainly very whippy, but the law does not prohibit wrist movement. The shoulder jerk -- which I believe is the origin of the appearance of Murali's throwing -- is irrelevant since the law is silent on this issue.
The sole question is whether Murali's elbow flexes before or during the delivery. If the answer is "no", his legality could not be questioned. The eye, and the scientific measurement showed that the answer was "yes" (even though he could bowl with a brace and no elbow movement). The law said this meant he was bowling illegally. Tests claimed to show that all bowlers bend the elbow during delivery, so the rules were changed to allow latitude in this area. When Murali was perceived to have exceeded the allowed latitude, the laws were changed to give more latitude. Whether this change was because of Murali is a moot point.
However, this put umpires in the difficult position of having to decide whether a bowler was flexing more or less than the required limit -- an impossibility that effectively prohibited an umpire from calling a bowler from throwing.
Some white guys who have been called into question include Ian Meckiff and Brett Lee. I would certainly question Andrew Symonds' action.

[Tony Tea]

"Not a chucker, optical illusion, bent arm, you're all racists." He does chuck. "Everyone chucks."

[Professor Rosseforp]

Tony, you and I have demonstrated the Pavlovian response once again -- "chuckers, for God's sake don't mention chucking when he comes home, children ..."

[food terroirist]

SL playing Pak in tests at the moment, debut for Sachitra Senanayake (played a bit of big bash last year).

His action still looks suss. He was cited 3 years ago when touring England with the A team.
http://www.espncricinfo.com/Australia/content/player/273439.html