ICC confirms 12 bowlers identified for remedial work at ICC U/19 CWC

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has confirmed 12 players were identified with potentially flawed bowling actions at February's ICC U/19 Cricket World Cup (U/19 CWC) in Sri Lanka.

Seven of the 12 players were from Associate teams with five from Test-playing ICC Members.

The actions of the players were highlighted by a three-man Bowling Action Advisory Panel (BAAP) during the tournament, which took place in Colombo.

Those players identified are not eligible for selection for any national team until an assessment by their own Board's bowling advisors confirms either the action is legal or that, although it was illegal, it has now been remedied.

The BAAP in Sri Lanka was made up of former Indian pace bowler Javagal Srinath, Richard Done, the ICC's High Performance Manager, and biomechanist Marc Portus who is a member of the ICC's panel of human movement specialists.

Members of the BAAP attended games individually and assessed bowling actions from various aspects of the ground and, if an action was deemed to be suspicious by a BAAP representative or match official, it was filmed wherever possible.

It is a repeat of the process that took place at the previous ICC U/19 CWC in Bangladesh in 2004 and ICC General Manager - Cricket David Richardson said it is an important step towards dealing with the problem of illegal actions in international cricket.

"By identifying any player who has a flaw in their technique at junior level, there is an opportunity to address the problem before they graduate to senior international cricket," said Mr Richardson.

The use of the BAAP at the ICC U/19 CWC is part of the ICC's comprehensive program to deal with the issue of flawed actions, including a new streamlined process, introduced in March 2005, at senior international level.

The ICC has also taken the lead by compelling each country to develop its own system to identify players with flawed actions and correct any problems well before players reach senior international level.