Bowlers suspended for illegal actions (since 1999)

10 Bowler suspended due to Illegal action

What is the law for a legal delivery in cricket?

In the sport of cricket, throwing, commonly referred to as chucking, is an illegal bowling action which occurs when a bowler straightens the bowling arm when delivering the ball. The Laws of Cricket specify that a bowler's arm must not extend during the bowling action. Only the rotation of the shoulder can be used to impart velocity to the ball. Throws are not allowed. If the umpire deems that the ball has been thrown, he will call a no-ball which means the batsman cannot be given out from that delivery. Current regulations of the International Cricket Council (ICC) set the legal limit of 15 degrees of permissible straightening of the elbow joint for all bowlers in international cricket. This law applies between the point at which the bowling arm passes above shoulder height and the point at which the ball is released. The limit is to allow some natural flexing of the elbow joint which happens during the course of legal delivery.

1. Shoaib Akhtar, December 1999: The Pakistan speedster was banned after he was reported during a Test series against Australia, but the suspension was quickly overturned on appeal. The Rawalpindi Express was reported several times following his short ban and ordered to undergo remedial work, but was never officially suspended again.


2. Shabbir Ahmed, December 2005: Having been reported multiple times in his short career, the Pakistan fast bowler was banned for 12 months after he was reported during a Test match against England. Shabbir never played Test cricket again, however he returned to Pakistan domestic cricket after his ban ended.


3. James Kirtley, September 2005: Having been reported several times, the right-arm quick was suspended by the England and Wales Cricket Board and ordered to undergo remedial work after it determined he had an illegal action. He was later cleared to return, but his action regularly came under heavy scrutiny until he retired in 2010.


4. Johan Botha, February 2006: The Proteas off-spinner was suspended after he was cited during South Africa's tour of Australia. Having returned to international cricket in 2007 after working on his action, Botha again came under the spotlight in May 2009 when his doosra was banned for falling outside the legal limits. Now playing with the West End Redbacks and Adelaide Strikers, Botha's action has come under suspicion several times since.


5. Marlon Samuels, February 2008: The West Indies all-rounder was banned from bowling after he was reported during a Test against South Africa in Durban. He continued to play as a batsman only and later returned to bowling after having his re-modelled action cleared by the ICC. However, in December 2013, he was banned from bowling his quicker deliveries after he was reported following a Test series against India.


6. Abdur Razzak, December 2008: The Bangladesh left-armer was suspended after tests determined he bowled with an arm bend of between 22 and 28 degrees. He returned to international cricket in July 2009 after the ICC determined his re-modelled action was legal.


7. Shane Shillingford, December 2010: The West Indies off-spinner was suspended after he was reported in his first Test match, against South Africa in Port-of-Spain. His re-modelled action was cleared by the ICC in May 2011, but his action has come under scrutiny several times since. He was banned a second time in December 2013 and was only allowed to return to international cricket in March on the condition that he didn't bowl his doosra.


8. Sachithra Senanayake, July 2014: The Sri Lanka off-spinner was banned after the ICC determined four deliveries he sent down in the fourth one-day international at Lord’s breached the 15- degree guideline. He was then sent to Perth to undergo remedial work in the hope that his re-modelled action will be cleared. He is targeting a return for a seven-match ODI series against England in November.


9. Kane Williamson, July 2014: The New Zealand batsman and part-time off-spinner was banned after he was reported during a Test match in the West Indies. He will continue playing as a batsman only and will undergo remedial work on his action in the hope he can return to the bowling crease.


10. Saeed Ajmal, September 2014: The Pakistan off-spinner was banned with immediate effect after the ICC's Human Movement Specialists found all his deliveries exceeded the 15 degrees level of tolerance permitted under the regulations.