Cricket faces chucking crisis

Ian Meckiff, one of cricket's more controversial bowlers, in action in 1960-61 © Getty Images

In an interview in Australia's Sun Herald, Rene Ferdinands, one of the game's leading biomechanists, has said that unless rules on chucking are reviewed then cricket will turn into a game in which fast bowlers hurl the ball down at more than 100mph (160kph) off short runs, and spinners turn the ball prodigiously at a virtually unplayable pace.

Ferdinands is a respected figure who has set up biomechanics testing for cricket and golf at Sydney University. It was his initial research which contributed to the ICC's recent implementation of a 15-degree limit for bowlers.

But Ferdinands now warns that despite rule changes, it is possible for bowlers to throw within the regulations. "The testing we've done shows that bowlers can basically perform a throwing action and do it legally," he told the newspaper. "The implications are huge. The extreme result would be it radically changes the way bowling technique is taught.

"Fast bowlers would use much shorter run-ups because they'd have a far more efficient way of delivering the ball quickly, with a slightly modified throw. This means that fast bowlers could actually bowl for longer spells. Finger spinners would be more accurate and could bowl much faster. There would be more doosras in the game. Batsmen could find the game much more difficult, and dangerous. You can effectively have a throwing action which is legal."

Ferdinands claimed to have tried the technique himself. "I just learnt how to do it and I was faster than 100kmh off five paces and I don't even have a strong throwing arm."

His research established that bowlers who throw the ball shared characteristics with throwers in that they straightened their arm at more than 200 degrees per second. By banning that speed of straightening, he believes that loophole could be closed, adding that the main reason for amending the law was safety, because fast bowlers were able to operate legally with suspect jerky actions. "If something isn't done there could be some very serious problems. Either the ICC allows it and totally alters the game or there needs to be a statement that the elbow extension angle legislation is only provisional.

Ferdinands' research has been submitted to the ICC, but he told the Sun-Herald that it did not seem keen to take his findings on board.