List of international cricketers called for throwing

Muttiah Muralitharan bowling in a One Day International against Australia in early 2006. Just over a decade earlier, also in Australia, he was called for throwing twice in ten days by two different umpires—Darrell Hair and Ross Emerson.

In the sport of cricket, strict rules govern the method of bowling the ball. The rules relates to the bending of the arm at the elbow, the extent of which has always been open to interpretation by the umpires. More recently, the ICC has attempted to codify the maximum permissible flexing of the elbow as 15 degrees.

When a player is found by the umpire to have delivered the ball contrary to those rules, the umpire will call a no ball and he is said to have been called for throwing. Where public opinion is that a player's bowling action appears to be that he routinely throws, he is said to have a suspect or an illegal action, or more derogatorily, he is said to be a chucker. The issue is often highly emotive with accusers considering that deliveries with an illegal action are akin to cheating.

Over the years, a number of players have been called in Test cricket and One Day Internationals, invariably creating controversy and occasionally destroying cricket careers. Often the player has been able to modify his action to appease his critics and the umpires, but more commonly, especially when the bowler has been called on more than one occasion, his career is international cricket is effectively ended.

This is a list of international cricketers called for throwing. Those marked in bold were called for throwing in a Test match.

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

• Ernie Jones (AUS) - called in 1898 at Melbourne
• C. B. Fry (ENG) - called three times in 1898 and then in 1900 by umpire Jim Phillips
• Arthur Mold (ENG) - called in 1900 by umpire Jim Phillips and again in 1901
• Madhusudan Rege (IND) – called in 1951 playing for Maharashtra v MCC (first Indian player to be called for throwing)
• Cuan McCarthy (RSA) - called in 1952
• Doug Insole (ENG) - called in 1952
• Tony Lock (ENG) - called in 1952 and 1953-54
• Keith Slater (AUS) - called in 1957-58 and 1964-65
• Harold Rhodes (ENG) – called in 1960 and 1965
• Geoffrey Griffin (RSA) - called in London in 1958-59 and 1960
• Butch White (ENG) - called in 1960 and in 1965 (though latter was a joke ball)
• Reg Simpson (ENG) - called in 1960
• Haseeb Ahsan (PAK) - called in Bombay in 1960-61
• Charlie Griffith (WI) – called in 1961-62 and 1966
• Ian Meckiff (AUS) - called in November 1963 by umpire Colin Egar at Brisbane
• Ian Redpath (AUS) - called in 1964
• Abid Ali (IND) - called in Christchurch in 1968
• Jim Higgs (AUS) - called in 1975
• Bruce Yardley (AUS) - called in 1977-78
• Syed Kirmani (IND) - called in Bridgetown in 1983
• David Gower (ENG) - called in Nottingham in 1986 [1]
• Henry Olonga (ZIM) - called in Harare in 1995
• Muttiah Muralitharan (SL) - called in December 1995 by umpire Darrell Hair at Melbourne, January 1996 by umpires Tony McQuillan and Ross Emerson in Brisbane, and January 1999 by Ross Emerson in Adelaide
• Grant Flower (ZIM) - called in Bulawayo in 2000

Players who have been reported to the ICC because of official concerns about their bowling actions but never called in a match. They were all cleared to continue bowling without sanction

Harbhajan, pictured here bowling in the nets.

• Saeed Ajmal (PAK)
• Kumar Dharmasena (SL)
• Mohammad Hafeez (PAK)
• Jermaine Lawson (WI)
• Brett Lee (AUS)
• Shoaib Malik (PAK)
• Harbhajan Singh (IND)

Players who have been reported to the ICC because of official concerns about their bowling actions and subsequently sanctioned

• Shoaib Akhtar (PAK) - in December 1999 but overturned almost immediately
• Shabbir Ahmed (PAK) - in December 2005 for 12 months
• James Kirtley (ENG) - in October 2005 by England and Wales Cricket Board
• Johan Botha (RSA) - in February 2006 by ICC until passing a subsequent test to prove that action has been rectified. In November 2006, he was cleared to resume bowling at international level. He was again reported in April 2009, and his doosra was banned.
• Abdur Razzak (BAN) - December 2008 but lifted in March 2009.

See also

• Bowling (cricket)
• Throwing (cricket)
• List of cricketers called for throwing in major cricket matches in Australia

Further reading

• The Biomechanics of Illegal Bowling Actions in Cricket by Dr René E. D. Ferdinands and Dr Uwe G.Kersting
• Brief history of 'chucking' by M Shoaib Ahmed
• History and Causes of Throwing (Chucking) in Cricket by David Liverman
• The Great Taboo by Gideon Haigh

External links

• Cricinfo table