List of international cricketers called for throwing

In the sport of

When a player is found by the umpire to have delivered the ball contrary to those rules, the umpire will call a no-ball and he is said to have been called for throwing. Where public opinion is that a player's bowling action appears to be that he routinely throws, he is said to have a suspect or an illegal action, or more derogatorily, he is said to be a chucker. The issue is often highly emotive with accusers considering that deliveries with an illegal action are akin to cheating.

Over the years, a number of players have been called in Test cricket and One Day Internationals, invariably creating controversy and occasionally destroying cricket careers. Often the player has been able to modify his action to appease his critics and the umpires, but more commonly, especially when the bowler has been called on more than one occasion, his career is international cricket is effectively ended.

For many spinners, especially off-spinners, they are susceptible to be called for throwing when they have a front-on approach because the elbow gets in front of the wrist upon release, especially bowling doosra.

Cricketers called for throwing in a match

Those marked in bold were called for throwing in a Test match.

This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (August 2008)

• AUS) – called in 1898 at Melbourne
• ENG) – called three times in 1898 and then in 1900 by umpire Jim Phillips
• ENG) – called in 1900 by umpire Jim Phillips
  and again in 1901
• IND
  ) – called in 1951 playing for Maharashtra v MCC (first Indian player to be called for throwing)
• RSA
  ) – called in 1952
• ENG
  ) – called in 1952
• ENG
  ) – called in 1952 and 1953–54
• AUS
  ) – called in 1957–58 and 1964–65
• ENG
  ) – called in 1960 and 1965
• RSA) – called in the Currie Cup in 1959-60 and 1960 at London
• ENG
  ) – called in 1960 and in 1965 (though latter was a joke ball)
• ENG
  ) – called in 1960
• Bombay
  in 1960–61
• WI
  ) – called in 1961–62 and 1966
• Brisbane
• AUS
  ) – called in 1964
• IND) – called in Christchurch
  in 1968
• AUS
  ) – called in 1975
• AUS
  ) – called in 1977–78
• IND) – called in Bridgetown
  in 1983
• ENG) – called in Nottingham in 1986. New Zealand needed one run to win with eight wickets left so Gower put himself on and bowled one joke ball to give New Zealand the winning runs. ^[1]
• ZIM) – called in Harare
  in 1995
• ZIM) – called in Bulawayo
  in 2000
• SL) – called in December 1995 by umpire Darrell Hair at Melbourne, January 1996 by umpires Tony McQuillan and Ross Emerson in Brisbane, and January 1999 by Ross Emerson in Adelaide - He demonstrated he is capable of bowling with a legal action by wearing a steel reinforced plaster-of-Paris arm guard (which works as a shield against him bending his arm) and bowling all his deliveries correctly. However, the calls for throwing were shown to be quite correct when tests showed a 14 degree bend when delivering the doosra, compared with the maximum under the then rules of 5 degrees. The rule was then changed to allow up to 15 degrees of bend.^[2]

Cricketers not called in a match

Players who have been reported to the ICC because of official concerns about their bowling actions but never called in a match. They were all cleared to continue bowling without sanction.

• SL
  )
• PAK
  )
• WI
  )
• AUS
  )
• PAK
  )
• PAK
  )
• IND
  )
• SL
  )
• WI
  )

Cricketers called in a match and sanctioned

Players who have been reported to the ICC because of official concerns about their bowling actions and subsequently sanctioned.

• PAK
  ) – in December 1999 but overturned almost immediately
• PAK
  ) – in December 2005 for 12 months, previously reported in 1999, 2004 and twice in 2005, including the 12-month ban.
• ENG) – in October 2005 by England and Wales Cricket Board
  , also reported by umpire in the ODI debut in 2001
• RSA) – in February 2006 by ICC until passing a subsequent test to prove that action has been rectified. In November 2006, he was cleared to resume bowling at international level. He was again reported in April 2009, and his doosra
  was banned.
• Abdur Razzak (BAN) – December 2008 but lifted in March 2009.
• WI) – reported in November 2010,^[3] banned in December 2010,^[4] but cleared to play in June 2011 following remedial work.^[5]
• WI) – reported in November 2013 again, banned in December 2013.^[6]
• WI) – banned in December 2013 by the testing facility; however ICC ruled only his quicker deliveries illegal.^[7]

In March 2014, following an intellectual property dispute surrounding upper limb modelling protocols, the University of Western Australia withdraws its services to International Cricket Council and the ICC take all testing in house.

• Sachithra Senanayake (SL) – banned in July 2014,^[8] cleared in December 2014 following remedial work, particularly his bowling approach to be more side-on.
• NZ) – banned in July 2014,^[9]
  cleared in December 2014 following remedial work, particularly his bowling approach to be more side-on.
• PAK) – banned in September 2014.^[10]
• Prosper Utseya (ZIM) – banned in October 2014.
• Sohag Gazi (BAN) – banned in October 2014.^[11]
• ICC World Twenty20^[12]

See also

• Bowling (cricket)
• Throwing (cricket)
• List of cricketers called for throwing in senior cricket matches in Australia

Further reading

• The Biomechanics of Illegal Bowling Actions in Cricket by Dr René E. D. Ferdinands and Dr Uwe G.Kersting
• Brief history of 'chucking' by M Shoaib Ahmed
• History and Causes of Throwing (Chucking) in Cricket by David Liverman
• The Great Taboo by Gideon Haigh

References

1. ^ "2nd Test: England v New Zealand at Nottingham, Aug 7-12, 1986". Cricinfo.
2. ^ "Bending the rules on chucking". 12 November 2004.
3. ^ "Shane Shillingford reported for suspect action". Cricinfo.
4. ^ "Shane Shillingford suspended from bowling". Cricinfo.
5. ^ "Shane Shillingford cleared to resume bowling". Cricinfo.
6. ^ "ICC suspends Shillingford for illegal bowling action". Cricinfo. 16 December 2013.
7. ^ "Marlon Samuels' action cleared by ICC". Cricbuzz. 29 September 2011.
8. ^ "Senanayake banned from bowling due to action". Cricinfo.
9. ^ "Kane Williamson: NZ & Yorkshire off-spinner banned over action". BBC Sport.
10. ^ "Saeed Ajmal banned from bowling". Cricinfo.
11. ^ "Sohag Gazi suspended from bowling". Cricinfo.
12. ^ "Taskin and Sunny suspended from bowling due to actions". Cricinfo. 19 March 2016.

External links

• 10 Players No Balled For Throwing In A Test
• Cricinfo table