Prince EWS
Global Moderator
Haha, stream of thought. Most random thing I could think of at the time.
Yeah, this is what bugs me too. His doosra being judged illegal is no surprise to me and many others. But all his deliveries? Indeed weird that any of his deliveries were ok with the former testing system and are all illegal with the new system.I wonder how he got cleared in 2009 though if all his deliveries were deemed illegal this time around.
It's a new dawn, brothers and sisters.Brumby last sighted heading for the beer fridge.
Was stunned that 'all his deliveries' were illegal as I thought that only his Doosra would be pinged. Since Ajmal will have to perform rehab on absolutely everything he bowls it wouldn't surprise me if he is forced into retirement prematurely as he's hardly a youngster at 36. I sincerely hope not.
So are the testing methods better or did his action deteriorate?
This is pure speculation on my part, but my uneducated guess is that the dealy that measures the amount of revs a spinner puts on a ball in a match situation has made it more or less impossible to duke the lab tests as, one infers, may've been the case before.Yeah, this is what bugs me too. His doosra being judged illegal is no surprise to me and many others. But all his deliveries? Indeed weird that any of his deliveries were ok with the former testing system and are all illegal with the new system.
A pure speculative theory would be that all his deliveries have slowly grown more and more towards an illegal type of delivery. That might also clarify, yet quite speculatively again, why he wasn't considered in any format at a younger age, but climbed to the top of all bowling lists rather speedily at an relative old age.
Yeah, but I don't think Ajmal has really deteriorated too much over the last few years (at least to my eye). Even earlier it looked like he was throwing (and there were jabs over the years across similar lines) but what everybody was thinking is that it is probably more a perception rather than reality that he is chucking. Now after 5 years it turns out he is chuckingYeah, this is what bugs me too. His doosra being judged illegal is no surprise to me and many others. But all his deliveries? Indeed weird that any of his deliveries were ok with the former testing system and are all illegal with the new system.
A pure speculative theory would be that all his deliveries have slowly grown more and more towards an illegal type of delivery. That might also clarify, yet quite speculatively again, why he wasn't considered in any format at a younger age, but climbed to the top of all bowling lists rather speedily at an relative old age.
The one reason why I don't feel as much sympathy for Ajmal as some others do is because of his rubbish with the long sleeves. When everyone started wearing it even in places like Dubai in 40 degree heat, it was obvious what was happening. If he truly believed he wasn't chucking, the long sleeves weren't necessary. All it did was draw more attention to his action anyway. I feel Ajmal did probably know he was chucking it, so does Ashwin, obviously, who pretty much said it as plain as possible.Wow. This is awful . Really big blow for Pakistan. I wonder how he got cleared in 2009 though if all his deliveries were deemed illegal this time around. Feel for the bowler too that he also felt he was fine but and kept on playing but eventually found out that he wasn't and it was all illegal.
I really, really hope this is the case. Otherwise we've now had several occurances of a player having a dodgy-looking action, having it cleared, then having it tested again later to find he's chucking -- without a visible difference in actions between the chucking and the legal bowling.This is pure speculation on my part, but my uneducated guess is that the dealy that measures the amount of revs a spinner puts on a ball in a match situation has made it more or less impossible to duke the lab tests as, one infers, may've been the case before.
Back in the day the only guide the testers had was speed, so it may be possible to send a ball down in a lab at similar velocity but with less work on. Now if Ajmal is sending a 55mph ball down at 2200 rpm in a match, the lab testers will be looking at like for like. If his 55mph ball has only 1500rpm on it they're going to know he's not bowling as he would in match conditions.
Yeah see this means we have a serious problem IMO. Anyone with a dodgy-looking action should therefore be getting reported every single time they bowl, even if it's just one game back from being cleared, as their action might have deteriorated without visible change in that time. Which is obviously absurd.Apparently the margin by which Ajmal blew the limit means the change in labs/testing procedure from 2009 had no impact, actions can deteriorate quite easily under pressure (Sachi) and workload (Ajmal).
They still had video analysis, not totally buying that but you never knowBack in the day the only guide the testers had was speed, so it may be possible to send a ball down in a lab at similar velocity but with less work on. Now if Ajmal is sending a 55mph ball down at 2200 rpm in a match, the lab testers will be looking at like for like. If his 55mph ball has only 1500rpm on it they're going to know he's not bowling as he would in match conditions.
But have we really got enough cases of clean actions turning filthy to say there's a serious problem?Yeah see this means we have a serious problem IMO. Anyone with a dodgy-looking action should therefore be getting reported every single time they bowl, even if it's just one game back from being cleared, as their action might have deteriorated without visible change in that time. Which is obviously absurd.
As bad as it sounds I actually hope that Ajmal cheated the testing system the first time and wasn't able to do so this time because of what Brumby said.
They should be tbf.I wonder if this means all of the times I picked up infraction points for calling Ajmal a chucker will be rescinded.