Simpson slams ICC and 'chuckers'

Former Australia captain Bob Simpson has resigned from the International Cricket Council's legal committee in protest against the procrastination in dealing with bowlers having suspect action.

Simpson, considered the unofficial cricket ombudsman, announced his decision in Mumbai on Tuesday.

He told reporters that suspect bowling [chucking] is the bane of cricket and is as vicious as match-fixing.

"Lot of bowlers with bent elbows are currently grabbing international attention for their illegal achievements and the ICC has not been forthright enough to deal with it," he pointed, adding he could not stand by and watch it helplessly.

He said the new instructions to umpires, not to call bowlers on the field but instead report them to the ICC, will only give spurt to such habits. "This will not only encourage aspiring youths to bowl with crooked arms but it will ruin careers of budding fast bowlers," he feared.

He cited the case of Aussie batsman Norman O'Neill, who had problems after facing West Indian Charllie Griffith. O'Neill really felt that one day Griffith would kill somebody, and he nearly did that to Nari Contractor.

Simpson has always voiced his disgust at chuckers, who keep getting away with their suspect action. According to him, it will hurt more when one day history will give credit to bowlers with suspect arms for taking the highest number of wickets rather than great bowlers like Richard Hadllee, Imran Khan and Kapil Dev.

Simpson was all praise for former cricketers Bishen Singh Bedi and Michael Holding, who have spoken out against chucking.

Bedi had compared Sri Lanka off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan, touted to break the record for highest number of wickets, to a javelin thrower and Holding wholeheartedly supported his view.

Simpson felt former cricketers doing commentary on television would do great service to cricket if they point out bowlers having suspect action.

He, however, may not be aware of the fact that eminent personalities, like former Aussie captain Ian Chappell and former Windies captain Clive Lloyd, not only believe that bowlers like Muralitharan and Pakistani paceman Shoaib Akhtar are genuine but had even picked them for rewards and awards.

Simpson ridiculed the clean chit given to Akhtar and Muralitharan by an Australian research laboratory, which certified that both were born with deformed arms and do not bend their elbows with an intent, saying: ''Sorry mate, deformity can not be allowed to violate laws.''

UNI