THE peculiar sight of a trio of the world’s best spinners bowling in long-sleeve shirts in sweltering heat was a red flag to cricket authorities to launch their latest crackdown on chuckers. 

It surely wasn’t a fashion statement when Pakistan’s Saeed Ajmal, in Brisbane on Monday to have his controversial bowling action analysed, chose to wear long sleeves during the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh earlier this year.
He was joined by the West Indies’ Sunil Narine and India’s Ravi Ashwin in wearing long sleeves instead of the standard short sleeve shirts.
This was despite most matches in Bangladesh being played in more than 30 degree heat and the temperature gauge often nudging 40
Cricket’s chucking police took notice and even more so when Ashwin blatantly admitted he had been wearing the long sleeves so he could get more elbow bend.
Wearing long sleeves helps as it makes it harder for umpires to determine if an action is suspect.
“I just wanted to see if you can get more revs on the ball if you can do a little bit with your elbow, as much as that is,’’ Ashwin said at the time.
“You can get a lot of advantage with these things, so why should I lag behind if someone else is getting a competitive edge?’’
Off-spinner Ajmal, 36, who has taken 178 wickets at 28 in 35 Tests, is one of five bowlers to be reported for having dodgy actions since a worldwide crackdown began in June.
Ajmal’s mystery ball and the one under most scrutiny is his doosra, the away spinner delivered by an arm which often needs to straighten to get maximum whip.
The current law allows bowlers to flex their elbow at an angle of 15 degrees. This has been the case for a decade, with the law introduced due to bowlers such as Sri Lankan Muttiah Muralidaran who was proved to have a medical condition which meant he had a permanently bent elbow
If Ajmal’s action is deemed to be illegal, he will be forced to step down from the two-Test series between Australia and Pakistan in Dubai in October.
The recent chucking debate has some fascinating sidelights with veteran Australian spinner Brad Hogg suggesting more Australians should bend the rules and start bowling suspect doosras.
“If someone’s got a suspect action (and wants to bowl the doosra), we laugh about it and my advice is to just do it. Everyone else is doing it,’’ Hogg said earlier this year.
“The rules have been bent to help bowlers of that nature, and I think we’ve gone too far that we can’t come back.
“Australian kids are going to have to start doing it if we want to compete on the same stage.’’
The scientific study of Ajmal’s action was held behind closed doors on Monday and the results will not be announced for a fortnight.

(Courier Mail)