ZC to work with Utseya to modify his bowling action

Sport
FOLLOWING the immediate suspension of Prosper Utseya from bowling in international cricket which was announced by the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Wednesday, Zimbabwe Cricket managing director Wilfred Mukondiwa has met with the player and the senior national team technical staff.

HARARE — FOLLOWING the immediate suspension of Prosper Utseya from bowling in international cricket which was announced by the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Wednesday, Zimbabwe Cricket managing director Wilfred Mukondiwa has met with the player and the senior national team technical staff.

Utseya expressed confidence that he could modify his bowling action.

Zimbabwe Cricket is now looking for the relevant technical expertise to work with Utseya to modify his action in the shortest possible time, after which an application will be made to the ICC for his reassessment.

A statement from the world cricket body on Wednesday said: “The International Cricket Council today (Wednesday) confirmed that an independent analysis has found the bowling actions of Bangladesh’s Sohag Gazi and Zimbabwe’s Prosper Utseya to be illegal and, as such, both off-spinners have been suspended from bowling in international cricket with immediate effect.

“The analysis revealed that all of their deliveries exceeded the 15 degrees level of tolerance permitted under the regulations.”

Utseya was reported after Zimbabwe’s third one-day international (ODI) against South Africa at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo in August while Gazi was reported after Bangladesh’s second ODI match against West Indies in St George’s the same month.

Both players are, however, eligible to apply for a reassessment after modifying their bowling actions in accordance with clause 2,4 of the ICC’s Regulations for the Review of Bowlers Reported for Suspected Illegal Bowling Actions, according to the ICC.

The bans on Gazi and Utseya have taken up the number of bowlers – all off-spinners – to be barred from bowling in recent months to five. Sachithra Senanayake, Kane Williamson and Saeed Ajmal have all been banned since July this year.

That apart, Sunil Narine, Mohammad Hafeez, Adnan Rasool, Suryakumar Yadav and Prenelan Subrayen were all reported for suspect actions during the recent Oppo Champions League Twenty20.

— (Cricinfo)