Reifer cleared to resume bowling slower balls and cutters

West Indies allrounder Raymon Reifer has been cleared to resume bowling slower balls and cutters after he was suspended from bowling them in October 2023. Remedial footage of his action was recently sent to the Loughborough University, who have now cleared it.

The same university had deemed Reifer's action for those balls to be illegal when his domestic side Barbados played Windward Islands in Tarouba in October last year. Reifer had bowled eight overs in that match, and conceded 35 runs while going wicketless.

Following that, Reifer played in three of the remaining five games for Barbados during the Super50 tournament. The last of those, the semi-final against Leeward Islands in November, was his last game at the competitive level.

However, having now got the clearance to bowl his variations, Reifer has been named in Barbados' squad for the first three matches of the upcoming West Indies Championship, their premier first-class tournament, which starts in early February and runs until the end of April.

Reifer, 32, made his debut for West Indies during a Test against New Zealand in Hamilton in 2017. His first ODI came in 2019, while his T20I debut followed in 2022.

The last time Reifer represented West Indies was during the first Test against India in July last year.