Maurice Holmes

Bowling with an action like Muttiah Muralitharan proved to be Maurice Holmes' blessing and his downfall. Holmes first came to attention as a 19-year-old when he offered his services as a net bowler to international teams practising at The Oval in preparation for games in the 2009 World Twenty20. New Zealand, keen to prepare for their game against Muralitharan's Sri Lanka, employed Homes to travel with them and, later that year, took him with them when they toured Sri Lanka.

Even then, however, the whispers about Holmes' action were growing in volume. He had been reported while playing second XI cricket for Kent and the subsequent tests at Loughborough showed he exceeded the 15 degree of tolerance permitted under ICC regulations. Having made the necessary alterations to his action, Holmes was retested before the 2010 season and cleared for bowling.

With first team opportunities limited at Kent by the presence of James Tredwell, however, Holmes joined Warwickshire ahead of the 2011 season. He made his first-class debut for Loughborough MCCU and his Championship debut for Warwickshire in May but was prevented from further progress when he was twice more reported for a suspect action. While he was cleared in subsequent testing, he was then recalled after suspicions that he had altered his action for the tests and, in the retests, was found to have exceeded the 15% degree of tolerance when delivering his doosra. He was warned against bowling the delivery and released by Warwickshire.

A latecomer to cricket - he did not start bowling until he was 15 - Holmes insists he had never heard of Murali when he first learned to bowl. As of late 2012, he had adjourned a career in cricket to pursue a law degree.
George Dobell