# Cricket - illegal bowling actions **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [September 9, 2014, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cricket-illegal-bowling-actions/697946 "2014-09-09T10:40:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bldysabba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@bldysabba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bldysabba)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2014, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cricket-illegal-bowling-actions/697946/1 "2014-09-09T10:40:10Z")
With Saeed Ajmal’s action ruled illegal, I think it’s a good time for cricket to get its act together about this issue. Quite a lot of people(former English players in particular) have been complaining for a very long time that Ajmal’s action is definitely illegal. He’s taken a lot of wickets and swung a lot of matches with his bowling, and now suddenly his action for all deliveries has been declared illegal. We need to establish clear standards and identify bowlers with bad actions and monitor their deliveries at the _start_ of their career, not hundreds of matches in. At the same time, it’s not clear to me how this should be accomplished. Unlike with almost all other on field decisions, I don’t think the umpires are well placed to make a call, particularly since they’re also to watch for overstepping no balls. I’m wary of tests done outside of match situations because they may not be comparable. Is a technological solution possible? bowlers wearing armbands that can be tracked by cameras or something? ---
**Author:** ![Cumbrian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce7236/32.png) [@Cumbrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cumbrian)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2014, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cricket-illegal-bowling-actions/697946/2 "2014-09-09T12:40:06Z")
Wearables will likely solve this issue in the future by providing real time feedback on what a bowler is doing. It’s a live and interesting issue but unfortunately, I can’t say anything better than this piece by Andy Bull in The Guardian, which is unusually balanced for what is generally a pretty emotive issue in cricket. I’d commend it to all as a worthwhile read. [http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/aug/12/the-spin-saeed-ajmal-cricket-chucking-debate](http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/aug/12/the-spin-saeed-ajmal-cricket-chucking-debate) He points out it’s not just Ajmal - though as the highest profile bowler he is the one getting the attention - but 5 off spinners recently and that it’s a diktat from the ICC that they want to get on top of it. I look forward to seeing who else they have a look at - for instance, I’ve often thought that Stuart Broad throws his effort ball. Will they go beyond the spinners or not? ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2014, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cricket-illegal-bowling-actions/697946/3 "2014-09-09T12:41:19Z")
Is this like a balk in baseball? ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2014, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cricket-illegal-bowling-actions/697946/4 "2014-09-09T12:51:39Z")
In Cricket, the bowler (pitcher) doesn’t throw the ball. He has to whirl his arm above his head and hurl it towards the batter using a straight arm. Bending your elbow while doing this is the biggest no-no in the game. It’s the cricket equivalent of a spitball or corking your bat. ---
**Author:** ![Cumbrian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce7236/32.png) [@Cumbrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cumbrian)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2014, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cricket-illegal-bowling-actions/697946/5 "2014-09-09T12:55:24Z")
I’m not totally familiar with all the vagaries of the balk rule, so I’ll try and describe this as best as possible and you will likely be the best judge. In cricket, the bowler has to bowl the ball at the batsman using a “straight” arm. The inverted commas are very deliberate. It used to be the case that this was rigid but biomechanics have revealed that it’s virtually impossible to have a straight arm and bowl a cricket ball, as everyone has a degree of flexion in their arm during the act of bowling. Nowadays, a bowler is allowed 15 degrees worth of flexion off the straight when bowling. Anything more constitutes throwing or “chucking”. Throwing is frowned upon as it allows you to be able to do things with the ball that tilt the game too far in the bowler’s favour (for one, a pace bowler will probably be capable of greater pace and spin bowlers would be able to impart more and different spin on the ball). The penalty for chucking in a match is a no-ball - i.e. the batsman can’t ordinarily be out as a result of that delivery (there are vagaries I won’t go into as they’re unimportant here) and the delivery has to be bowled again. Being continually no-balled for chucking leads to a warning from the umpire with a line of punishment leading to that player being excluded from bowling again in the game. Players with suspect actions are reported to the body running world cricket and have their action assessed independently in a testing arena (this is why the OP is suspect of the procedure, they’re not being tested in match conditions but effectively in a lab that won’t replicate match conditions). If passed, they return to cricket. If not, they have to modify their action and resubmit to testing of their action before they can. Apologies to all for the undoubted inaccuracies in this - I’m dashing it off quickly as I have to go - there are doubtless things I have missed or slightly mis-explained but the general thrust of this should be accurate. ---
**Author:** ![Cumbrian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce7236/32.png) [@Cumbrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cumbrian)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2014, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cricket-illegal-bowling-actions/697946/6 "2014-09-09T12:58:16Z")
> [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](#): > > It’s the cricket equivalent of a spitball or corking your bat. I’d argue that ball tampering is the equivalent of the spitball. This is more about the legalities of the action itself. Maybe an equivalent would be pitching from in front of the rubber?😕 ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2014, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cricket-illegal-bowling-actions/697946/7 "2014-09-09T13:05:53Z")
Thanks, Cumbrian. Your explanation and looking at some youtube videos and I’m understanding. ---
**Author:** ![bldysabba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@bldysabba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bldysabba)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2014, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cricket-illegal-bowling-actions/697946/8 "2014-09-09T13:46:33Z")
> [@Cumbrian](#): > > Wearables will likely solve this issue in the future by providing real time feedback on what a bowler is doing. Hmm, I’d just thrown that out as the first random thing I could think of, but the article([News & stories | Lord's](http://www.lords.org/news/2014/january/pollock-encouraged-by-wearable-technology/)) linked from the article you linked suggests that research is at stage two of three(whatever that means) on wearable sensors. That tech should be useful, but I wonder if they’ll be able to codify motion of the bowling arm in a way that will cover the wide range of legal bowling actions out there, while still disallowing something illegal. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2014, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cricket-illegal-bowling-actions/697946/9 "2014-09-09T15:30:22Z")
How the hell is Malinga not a chucker then. Re Ajmal’s action, the guy has been around for 6 years. Wonder why it only got reported now. He was cleared in 2009. It’s also interesting that since it’s mostly off spinners who are getting reported and Ian Gould is usually the umpire to so so ---
**Author:** ![Teuton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teuton/32/3864_2.png) [@Teuton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teuton)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2014, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cricket-illegal-bowling-actions/697946/10 "2014-09-09T16:59:11Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > How the hell is Malinga not a chucker then. He doesn’t bend his arm (much). The 15 degrees is amount of elbow flex you’re allowed, not how far off vertical you’re allowed to go. Minor nitpick to Cumbrian’s post above - you can actually bowl with a bent arm as long as you don’t change how much it’s bent by more than 15 degrees. Classical bowling action is usually with a straight arm, however. EDIT: [here](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jOORJq9s10) is a youtube video of Malinga’s action. Note that, despite the fact that his arm does not come vertically over his shoulder, his elbow remains straight throughout. Also note that you can bend your wrist as much as you like. ---
**Author:** ![bldysabba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@bldysabba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bldysabba)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2014, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cricket-illegal-bowling-actions/697946/11 "2014-09-09T17:05:39Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > How the hell is Malinga not a chucker then. Malinga is not a chucker because his arm stays straight while bowling. Not vertical, but straight. Has it ever seriously been suggested that his action is illegal? I haven’t come across it at least. I agree that there’s something wrong about letting Ajmal bowl for 6 years and then deciding his action is illegal and suspending him. I’ve been checking out videos, and I think there are clear problems with his action, especially when he bowls the Doosra. Check out this video - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2y6epnRZdI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2y6epnRZdI) But, if something like this has to happen at all, it should happen earlier in a bowler’s career, with clear reference to offences. It’s not fair to either the bowler or the teams he plays against to quietly decide that you’re going to start tightening up implementation of the rule. They need to get their act together on this issue (and others of course, but this one in particular, because it’s so murky right now). Also, right handed off spinners are natural candidates to fall afoul of the law. They’re the ones that would gain an advantage by snapping elbows straight at the time of the delivery. ---
**Author:** ![bldysabba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@bldysabba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bldysabba)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2014, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cricket-illegal-bowling-actions/697946/12 "2014-09-09T17:22:01Z")
> [@Teuton](#): > > Minor nitpick to Cumbrian’s post above - you can actually bowl with a bent arm as long as you don’t change how much it’s bent by more than 15 degrees. Classical bowling action is usually with a straight arm, however. This is what confuses me about Murali’s action, and why I’m not so sure about non match environment tests. His arm would appear to remain bent while he was delivering most of the time, making it legal, but just sometimes, it would seem to straighten. ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2014, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cricket-illegal-bowling-actions/697946/13 "2014-09-09T17:30:39Z")
I’m a casual fan of cricket, but am by no means knowledgeable about more than the basics of the sport. From the video that \*\*bldysabba \*\*links, it appears that he begins his delivery with his arm bent, but straightens it out as his arm comes over his head, so that it’s straight when he releases the ball. Is it this ‘snapping’ motion that makes it illegal? ---
**Author:** ![bldysabba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@bldysabba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bldysabba)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2014, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cricket-illegal-bowling-actions/697946/14 "2014-09-09T17:32:19Z")
> [@Suburban\_Plankton](#): > > I’m a casual fan of cricket, but am by no means knowledgeable about more than the basics of the sport. From the video that \*\*bldysabba \*\*links, it appears that he begins his delivery with his arm bent, but straightens it out as his arm comes over his head, so that it’s straight when he releases the ball. Is it this ‘snapping’ motion that makes it illegal? Yes, precisely that amount of straightening/snapping motion has to be within 15 degrees. ---
**Author:** ![truthSeeker2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7cd45c/32.png) [@truthSeeker2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/truthSeeker2)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2014, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cricket-illegal-bowling-actions/697946/15 "2014-09-13T14:19:15Z")
I didn’t see this thread and started a new thread. Ajmal’s elbow extension was found to be way over the limit - > [@](#): > > As per the report, during the tests Ajmal’s average elbow extension stood at 37 to 39 degrees for offspin delivered over the wicket, 41 to 42 degrees for offspin bowled around the wicket, 40 degrees for the doosra, 38 degrees for quicker ones around the wicket and 42 degrees for quicker balls over the wicket. > Results of over-by-over testing as per the ICC report > 1st over, offspin over the wicket: Average elbow extension 39 degrees > 2nd over, offspin over the wicket: 37 degrees > 3rd over, offspin around the wicket: 41 degrees > 4th over, offspin around the wicket (wide of the crease): 41 degrees > 5th over, offspin around the wicket: 42 degrees > 6th over, doosra around the wicket: 40 degrees > 7th over, quicker balls around the wicket: 38 degrees > 8th over, quicker balls over the wicket: 42 degrees ICC first went after the smaller fish (Senanayake) and then caught the big fish(Ajmal). Good stuff by ICC. ---
**Author:** ![Teuton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teuton/32/3864_2.png) [@Teuton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teuton)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2014, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cricket-illegal-bowling-actions/697946/16 "2014-09-13T18:54:56Z")
Yeah, that’s more than double. I suppose it shows it’s not intentional on his part - you’d think he’d have at least tried to rein it in if he knew he did it. ---
**Author:** ![Wallaby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/dc4da7/32.png) [@Wallaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallaby)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2014, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cricket-illegal-bowling-actions/697946/17 "2014-09-14T05:01:18Z")
One of the major issues is that no one’s arm is straight in all 3 dimensions (or 2, whatever it is). Try this simple test. Hold your arm out straight, level with your shoulder, palm down. Now sight along the arm - it’s pretty straight. The elbow shows no bend at all. Now rotate the arm so the palm is facing up. Now when you sight along the arm, the arm is definitely NOT a straight line at the elbow. When we watch a bowling action on TV, we can only ever see a flat, 2-dimensional image. Bowlers rotate their wrists and shoulders during the action - this can create in impression of ‘bending the elbow’ during the angle, when all that has happened is the perspective of the arm has changed. (Not explained very well, but do the above test and it will be clear). What should not happen is actual movement within the elbow joint. But optical illusions can be created by rotating the arm. ---
**Author:** ![truthSeeker2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7cd45c/32.png) [@truthSeeker2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/truthSeeker2)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2014, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cricket-illegal-bowling-actions/697946/18 "2014-09-14T07:41:01Z")
> [@Teuton](#): > > Yeah, that’s more than double. I suppose it shows it’s not intentional on his part - you’d think he’d have at least tried to rein it in if he knew he did it. One may give him benefit of doubt. but I guess he knew something is wrong with his action. wonder why even the coaches and team-mates never did anything about it apart from having him wear full-sleeves jerseys. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2014, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cricket-illegal-bowling-actions/697946/19 "2014-09-14T09:51:56Z")
As a former umpire he looks like he throws most balls to my eye. However, having said that I have to admit that I thought Muttiah Muralitharan was a chucker too. At the time that he was called by Darrell Hair I was coaching a team of kids and turned up to practice to find one of the guys teaching them all how to “bowl” like Murali. And several of them could. I told them to forget it, that it was cheating and carried that opinion for years. Some years later he did a segment on TV with Shane Warne discussing bowling during the lunch break. He demonstrated how he bowled different deliveries and because of the nature of the coverage the cameraman was standing near him. I was amazed to see that some deliveries that looked like they were thrown simply weren’t. He was able to get his arm over virtually with the back of his hand facing the batsman with his wrist at an angle that was inconceivable. Once in a while in junior cricket there would be a kid who couldn’t bowl and threw everything. I would just tell the other team’s coach that I wouldn’t call the “bowler” except if they took a wicket. That way the kid could participate but not disadvantage the batters. Funny thing is every time it happened I was umpiring at the bowler’s end. Coincidence or smart coaches? ---
**Author:** ![truthSeeker2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7cd45c/32.png) [@truthSeeker2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/truthSeeker2)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2014, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cricket-illegal-bowling-actions/697946/20 "2014-09-14T13:35:48Z")
In our part of the world, throwing is called \*bhatta \*bowling. When we used to play tennis ball cricket, if \*bhatta \*bowling was allowed, you could bowl _bhatta_-slow but not \*bhatta-\*fast. The bowler would announce before bowling, like say ‘right arm over the wicket _bhatta_’ . When one got out to \*bhatta \*bowling, there was often an argument whether the ball was fast (hence a no-ball) or not. 🙂 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cricket-illegal-bowling-actions/697946.md?page=2)