Pretoria accredited as new ICC testing center

The University of Pretoria has been accredited by the ICC as the latest testing center for suspected illegal bowling actions. The center is the fifth in the list that includes Cricket Australia's National Cricket Center in Brisbane, Cardiff Metropolitan University*, the Loughborough University in Leicestershire, and the Sri Ramachandra University in Chennai as testing facilities for players reported in international cricket under the ICC regulations.

The facility was assessed against a range of criteria, including having an indoor area large enough to allow a player to bowl off his or her normal full run-up, a motion analysis system with a minimum of 12 high-speed cameras capable of producing three-dimensional data, and suitably qualified personnel experienced in using such systems and implementing the ICC testing protocol.

An ICC release stated that the accreditation of the University of Pretoria was part of an effort to "tackle the issue of illegal bowling actions in a number of ways, including the location of accredited testing facilities in each region."

In order to allow for a consistent assessment of bowlers across different facilities and countries, the ICC has provided the same testing equipment and software to all four centers.

* December 12, 16.50 GMT - The article had previously mentioned University of Pretoria as the fourth testing center. This has been corrected