Shillingford, Samuels face nervous Test

Shane Shillingford and Marlon Samuels face the prospect of finding out whether their bowling actions have failed testing while they are in the middle of a Test match.

The deadline for the report into their actions passes midway through the Wellington Test against New Zealand starting on Wednesday and West Indies are waiting to see how the ICC will handle a potentially delicate situation.

The offspinners were tested in Perth on November 29, meaning that the 14-day period for confirmation of the findings being passed to the ICC will end on the third day of the test. The results become official when the ICC releases them via a press release so it is within their control exactly when the information is made public.

Ottis Gibson, the West Indies coach, does not believe it is in anyone's interest to reveal the results while the players are in the middle, particularly if they are not favourable for either, and hopes to know the outcome either before the match starts or in the days leading up to the final Test in Hamilton.

"I've not heard anything from the ICC. Since we've done the testing we've left it to them," Gibson said. "They have to digest the report then give us the results. Everything else we do is just focus on cricket.

"The ICC, I suppose, would have an idea of what the findings might say now. The Test starts on Wednesday, it would seem to me if nothing is said before then that they would wait until afterwards. I don't think it would be fair for them or us to issue the results in the middle of the game. If anything is going to happen I'd prefer if it happened before the game started."

Shillingford reduced New Zealand to 44 for 4 in their second innings in Dunedin and received praise from his captain, Darren Sammy, for how he had handled himself.

"I didn't expect anything different from Shillingford," Sammy said. "We've been good mates, we've been playing for the same first-class team in the past decade and I know that he's a very strong minded individual. He's been through things like that before."

Shillingford had his doosra examined during the testing and Samuels his quicker ball after they were reported following the second Test against India in Mumbai. Both players have previously been banned from bowling, Samuels in 2008 and Shillingford following his Test debut in November 2010.