ICC should be lauded for taking action against chuckers: Balvinder Singh Sandhu

The International Cricket Council should be lauded for taking action against chuckers albeit belatedly This tribe is growing fast and unfortunately they are becoming role models for youngstersMy heart aches when a commentator announces the name of a chucker for a manofthematch award and praises his chucking skillsI empathise with the bowlers who work hard dayin and dayout to hone their skills and believe in playing fairly If the ICC does not come hard on this ldquoChuckerrsquos Clubrdquo then like match fixing this menace will grow into a bigger devil and will be difficult to fixThe ICC has banned Pakistan offspinner Saeed Ajmal after finding his action illegal PicAFPInternational cricket will soon find the numbers of bowlers with legitimate actions dwindling drastically and the influence of the lsquoChuckerrsquos Clubrsquo will suck the game like quick sandCredibility at stakeThe credibility of the ICC is at stake and the cricketing world is watching its moves and intentions closely to see if things will be swept under the carpet or whether the international body means businessI fail to understand why it took so much time for the ICC to come to the conclusion that Saeed Ajmal bends his elbow more than what is allowed by law Even those with bad eyesight can see the bent elbowThe cricketing world can see on TV that the culpritrsquos bent elbow protruding out of a full sleeve shirt fails to hide the crime Surprisingly many TV commentators go ga ga over the chuckerrsquos performances gleefully rattling off records to educate the viewers and unabashedly praising their skills I am sure the greats of the game in their hearts are fully aware about the facts but then it takes courage to speak the truth If they canrsquot speak the truth at least they should play down the performance of a chucker as their comments have great impact and effect on the minds of young cricketersAjmal has been chucking in international cricket for long having won many matches for his team but was also instrumental in cutting short the careers of many with his illegitimate deliveries or due to the doubts that they create But then is a chucker the only one responsible for shortening the career of many batsmenrsquoFirst responsibility lies with the association which did not back the coach or umpire who first brought it to their notice and then to the notice of compromising umpires who failed to call him Then the selectors who picked him then the team coach for playing him in the XI All were well aware that the bowler had a suspect actionICC needs to relook the rules and suggest that all bowlers have to bowl with halfsleeves shirts at firstclass and international matches This will expose the bent elbow more clearly to the viewer and at the same time the ICC shall be able to monitor the angle of bent elbow easilyAlso making it mandatory for the TV companies to show in slow motion at least one ball per over with the camera zooming in on the bowling arm will help If done well the fear of being caught will surely affect the guilty minds resulting in a drop in performance or their crime being exposedThe ICC needs to empower umpires and match referees to stop a bowler with suspect action from bowling further in that innings and in the match The bowler then has to get clearance from ICCappointed experts before playing again This will ensure that the onus of responsibility rests on the shoulder of selectors coach and captainNo captain or team management wants to be a bowler short in a game The selectors will be forced to get the ICC expertrsquos clearance on the action of a bowler who they intend selecting but have some doubts about his actionSpeak out like BediI have yet to come across a selector coach umpire captain journalist or commentator who is not aware of a suspect action but no one wants to bell the cat I appeal to all former Test cricketers from all countries to raise their voice and scream when a chucker is seen just like our very own Bishan Singh Bedi does so very oftenLike match fixers chuckers should be shunted out of the game because they rape the beautiful game of cricket3 The number of offspinners mdash Pakistanrsquos Saeed Ajmal Zimbabwersquos ProsperUtseya and Bangladeshrsquos Sohag Gazi mdash reported for suspect actions last month