***Official*** Sri Lanka in England and Ireland 2014

[Migara]

Herath
Randiv
Perera
Mendis
Prasanna

+ various all-rounders and part-timers.


Not a bad depth of spin there, IMO.

Senanayake found missing there. Additionally PHT Kaushal is there, the new kid. Different to others as he gives it a mighty rip.

 

[Migara]

Not quite sure how I contrived to leave Senanayake off that, tbh. NFI who Kaushal is so yeah.

I don't think many countries even have fringe spinners behind their lead one. India would be the only other country that's comparable in terms of depth IMO.

HEre is a look at him about two years back. Had gathered some pace on the ball since filming this.

 

[BackFootPunch]

HEre is a look at him about two years back. Had gathered some pace on the ball since filming this.

He looks to get some pretty nice dip there. Doesn't turn it a whole lot though, does he? Hard to judge a spinner when they're bowling in a limited overs game tbf.

Just a couple of things I picked up from that clip - he's a noticeably better bowler when he's coming around wicket. When he does that he can brace himself against his front leg and pivot around it to get decent revs on the ball but when he bowls from over the wicket he's often just going straight through the crease with much less of a pivot. He gets away with it because he beats those guys in the air so often but he'd struggle against quality players of spin imo, especially batsmen who use their feet. They'll just run at him all day until he proves he can turn one past them.

He also seems to have a pretty big bowling stride so is leaning back as he begins his bowling action. Not a terrible thing but it gives him more work to do to get over that front leg.

He looks to get plenty on the ball but a lot of it is overspin, imo. Will beat a lot of guys with bounce.

 

[marc71178]

Sri Lanka in England 2014 : Sachithra Senanayake's action reported | Cricket News | England v India | ESPN Cricinfo

Is he in the Test squad?

 

[LegionOfBrad]

Lawrence Booth (Wisdon Editor) is reporting Senanayake has just been reported for his action following Saturdays game.

 

[marc71178]

So you're accusing the umpires of bias then?

 

[Maximas]

Not surprised, hasn't been reported since starting his international career, seems like the umps are a bit concerned about a few of his variations or something, if he's found to be illegal then that will **** with our WC plans a fair bit

 

[YorksLanka]

So you're accusing the umpires of bias then?

Quite possibly, but like the umpires, I have no proof, it's just my own thoughts. if there was a concern on his bowling action why wasn't it reported at the beginning of the series? As I said, after further tests(apart from those already conducted by SLC) if he is found to illegal then I stand corrected but until then this is simply fears in the mind of the umpires- unknown whether one or both of them..

 

[Maximas]

I somehow doubt the umps are involved in a conspiracy to upset the mindset of Sachi tbh

 

[marc71178]

Quite possibly, but like the umpires, I have no proof, it's just my own thoughts. if there was a concern on his bowling action why wasn't it reported at the beginning of the series? As I said, after further tests(apart from those already conducted by SLC) if he is found to illegal then I stand corrected but until then this is simply fears in the mind of the umpires- unknown whether one or both of them..

Well, I would imagine that the umpires have a lot more training on what to look out for than you do, but I don't get what you mean by they have no proof - they're following the protocol as set down for this sort of thing. It's as the on-field umpires, tv umpire and match referee - are they all biased or are they just acting as they're supposed to when they see something that worries them?

 

[YorksLanka]

actually, ok, my bad, emotions rather than sense on my part.. apologiest..fair enough..What i mean by they have no proof is that they are simply going by eyesight which is NOT a good enough indicator into legal/bowling actions..lets see what the icc testing comes back with however despite being cleared TWICE by the icc, Murali is still described as a chucker by some..
i have also removed my "offending" post...

 

[Dan]

Yeah, it's almost certainly not a conspiracy by Big Umpire who want to hold Sri Lankan cricket down.

He's got an action that looks a bit questionable to the naked eye. Sure, it's unfair to go "ZOMGZ HE CHUCKS" on the basis of the 2D representation of a 3D bowling action that you see on TV, but I don't really see why anybody would get upset with the umpires going "well, it looks a bit dodgy, better get it checked out". I mean, there's set protocol in place to try and catch out those who do throw. If his action is fine, he'll be vindicated by the testing and probably be in the clear for a couple of years or so.

In an ideal world we'd probably test every single bowling action around -- would be nice for the stats nerds if nothing else -- but that obviously isn't practical. As such there has to be some sort of screening device, and that's what umpires see visually. It's better to be conservative and over-test this kind of thing -- catching bowlers who look a bit off but aren't breaking the laws in the screening net -- than it would be to miss guys who are blatantly chucking.

As for why it wasn't reported at the start of the series -- probably because they didn't want to report it prematurely and force him into testing unless they thought it was actually justified. Better to take your time, use a few matches as guides, and then come to the decision of whether to report or not, rather than seeing one delivery and deciding to report based on that alone.

And it's hardly like they can report his action when he isn't bowling. And when he's bowling, being a pretty decent spinner, he's probably taking wickets, so...

 

[slowfinger]

if they kill his action then that is a big upset for SL. Real talent.

 

[Dan]

What i mean by they have no proof is that they are simply going by eyesight which is NOT a good enough indicator into legal/bowling actions..lets see what the icc testing comes back with however despite being cleared TWICE by the icc, Murali is still described as a chucker by some..

Yeah, of course eyesight isn't enough to convict him of being a chucker, but it's a decent enough screening process to go "hey, this guy might be worthwhile testing". Dodgy action = you get tested. Getting tested =/= chucker. A guy like Murali is the prime example -- his action looked pretty bloody strange and elbow-heavy, so he got tested. Well it would be the prime example if the law weren't changed to accommodate Murali because they realised how unworkable the original law was; that's where most of the controversy seems to stem from IMO.

 

[YorksLanka]

Yeah, it's almost certainly not a conspiracy by Big Umpire who want to hold Sri Lankan cricket down.

He's got an action that looks a bit questionable to the naked eye. Sure, it's unfair to go "ZOMGZ HE CHUCKS" on the basis of the 2D representation of a 3D bowling action that you see on TV, but I don't really see why anybody would get upset with the umpires going "well, it looks a bit dodgy, better get it checked out". I mean, there's set protocol in place to try and catch out those who do throw. If his action is fine, he'll be vindicated by the testing and probably be in the clear for a couple of years or so.

In an ideal world we'd probably test every single bowling action around -- would be nice for the stats nerds if nothing else -- but that obviously isn't practical. As such there has to be some sort of screening device, and that's what umpires see visually. It's better to be conservative and over-test this kind of thing -- catching bowlers who look a bit off but aren't breaking the laws in the screening net -- than it would be to miss guys who are blatantly chucking.

As for why it wasn't reported at the start of the series -- probably because they didn't want to report it prematurely and force him into testing unless they thought it was actually justified. Better to take your time, use a few matches as guides, and then come to the decision of whether to report or not, rather than seeing one delivery and deciding to report based on that alone.

And it's hardly like they can report his action when he isn't bowling. And when he's bowling, being a pretty decent spinner, he's probably taking wickets, so...

yeah makes sense, as i said emotions came into play before sense for me and apologies again for that post..i see now that what i SHOULD have said is lets wait and see what the ICC tests come back with..until then i hope he gets 7fer tomorrow

 

[Maximas]

Is he in the Test squad?

I can't find the test squad (not sure if it's been announced?) but from what we've seen in the UAE and Bangladesh Dilruwan Perera is our second spinner and Mendis is behind him in the pecking order, so this shouldn't affect the tests

 

[91Jmay]

I wonder if there will ever be a player with a conventional action who changes it so their arm bends a bit more (but is still legal obviously). Would be interesting to see what happens.

 

[Dan]

I think that would be incredibly difficult to train yourself to do.

I've bowled in the nets with an action that would be deemed, erm, questionable. So much more turn, so much more zip, so much more than 15 degrees of straightening.

 

[BackFootPunch]

I wonder if there will ever be a player with a conventional action who changes it so their arm bends a bit more (but is still legal obviously). Would be interesting to see what happens.

It happens when 'conventional' spinners start trying to bowl a doosra. Pretty much impossible to bowl one without straightening your arm to some extent so a bowler who attempts to master it is bound to end up bending/straightening their arm more imo. From talking to quite a few spinners (and my own experience), it seems a lot of guys try it and discover that bowling the doosra just messes with their stock ball too much and it's not worth the trouble.

 

[91Jmay]

Interesting, thanks for responses. Moeen Ali has allegedly been 'taught' the doosra by Ajmal so will be interesting to see how he goes with it.

I was thinking more though that a regulation off spinner with a 'normal' action starts to deliberately bend their arm during their stock delivery. They'd have to practise whilst being tested at all times I suppose. Its certainly something I'd work in once or twice an over if I was a spinner (that's if its possible). Joe Root for example who's action changes so much ball to ball, not sure it would harm him to bend his arm to rip one every now and then.