ICC's go ahead to switch-hit irks bowlers

While the International Cricket Councilrsquos ICC Cricket Committee felt that the muchdebated switchhit should remain a legitimate part of the game bowlers consider this another step towards making the game more batsmenfriendly The switchhit was employed by Englandrsquos Kevin Pietersen against New Zealand in 2008 when he changed from a righthander to lefthander just before the ball was delivered Too much in their favour UMP Englandrsquos Stuart Broad right speaks with umpire Tony Hill during the second Test against Bangladesh in Dhaka on March 23 2010u00a0Getty Imagesu00a0pic used for representation only A number of issues were discussed and debated during the Cricket Committeersquos annual meeting at Lordrsquos on Wednesday and Thursday ICC says The ICC release stated ldquoAfter a detailed debate involving a wide range of opinions the committee decided to make no change to the current regulations but to request MCC to provide further direction on the matter switchhit and reverse sweep shots following wider consultation with players and match officialsrdquo Manoj Prabhakaru00a0 Former India spinner Venkatapathy Raju had no problems in switchhit and reverse sweep being allowed but appealed to the ICC to permit bowlers to also change their bowling arm at will Under the current rules a bowler has to inform the umpire about his bowling arm and side and intimate the official upon changing it Venkatapathy Rajuu00a0 ldquoI am fine with batsmen playing the switchhit or reverse sweep But then also allow bowlers to bowl with any arm without informing the umpiresrdquo Raju told MiD DAY yesterday ldquoIf the batsman can change from righthander to lefthander or vice versa then why not the same rule for bowlers It will add more unpredictability to the gamerdquo Raju suggested Chandu Borde whose legbreaks fetched India 52 wickets in Tests supported the switchhit but said the legbefore rules should also change in such cases ldquoThat shot switchhit is alrightrdquo he said from Pune ldquoBut the legbefore rule needs to be changed as well The umpire needs to judge the line of the ball according to the changed stancerdquo Borde added He was against the suggestion that bowlers should also be allowed to change the arm without informing the umpires ldquoThen we need to change the whole gamerdquo he said with a chuckle However former India allrounder Manoj Prabhakar was livid at cricket becoming more of a batsmanrsquos game ldquoWhat have they ICC done for the bowlersrdquo he asked ldquoCricket is turning out to be a battersrsquo game All rules are against bowlers You bowl little outside leg stump it is called a wide any ball which is little over waist high is a noballrdquo When informed about a recommendation of allowing two bouncers in an over instead of one Prabhakar said ldquoBut the restrictions are still there on the bowlers Batsmen have no restrictions They can play whichever shot they wantrdquo said the allrounder who played 39 Tests and 130 ODIs He however shot down the idea of allowing bowlers to change the arm without prior warning ldquoIt is not a good idea Then you need to adjust the sightscreen and other things as well It will be a bit complicatedrdquo he concludedu00a0