Politics affecting chucking issues - Holding

Michael Holding, the West Indies fast bowling legend, has said that political issues are preventing some bowlers being reported for suspected illegal bowling actions.

Holding, an influential and highly respected member of the ICC expert committee that helped develop the 15 degree levels of tolerance now used for international bowlers, told the April issue of Cricinfo Magazine that, "politics is preventing people from doing what they should" and that the way to tackle the problem of illegal actions was, "to get people in authority who have the backbone to do what is right, and not what is politically expedient."

While endorsing the use of the 15 degree ruling and the detailed laboratory analysis of bowlers' actions, Holding said there is a problem with the reporting of certain players. "Once you see something with the naked eye, you should be reporting it and having it assessed and measured properly. The difficulty is in the politics surrounding it, with people afraid to report certain players."

Holding felt that the ability of umpires to interpret potentially flawed actions was further complicated by issues like hyper-extension and adduction, which can effectively create optical illusions. "That's why there are problems," he continued, "because the umpires will not call anybody on the field. I did something with Shoaib Akhtar at the end of the Test match in Karachi, when I compared him to RP Singh to show that both have hyperextension. When you look at Shoaib Akhtar and RP Singh from the front, you see a bent arm with one and a straight arm with the other. As I said, politics is preventing people from doing what they should."

Measuring a bowler's flex under laboratory conditions, Holding felt, needed to be implemented using the correct procedure. "When you see something that looks awkward to you, you can go to the TV booth or the production company van and then look at the slow-motion replays to make sure it's seemingly a chuck. Then you can send the guy to the lab to be measured. If it's a fast bowler, they'll know what the speed he was bowling in the game. He has to be bowling at 90 to 95% of that speed in the lab, otherwise they'll know he's holding back.

"If he goes into the lab and does not do what he does in the game, it is upto the people testing him to report to the ICC that they are not satisfied. That's written in the laws."