The SA20 ‘mega-auction’ takes place on Tuesday, September 9. It’s expected to last for five hours. There’s a collective pot of R131 million to be spent. Some players will become instant millionaires, more will be very happy with a generous paycheck but the vast majority will be left empty-handed and possibly broken-hearted.
Durban Super Giants have only four players signed but they include Heinrich Klaasen, Jos Buttler and Sunil Narine so that’s a decent base to work around. Word on the streets is that Pretoria Capitals, who have only three players on their books, will make Aiden Markram one of their prime targets to be captain. He may even become the first R10 million player. The whole will be live on the telly, in India as well as South Africa.
One cricketer may be more relieved than most to be in the auction – Prenelan Subrayen. Cricket does moral righteousness more vigorously than most sports. The ‘Spirit of Cricket’ is a convenient hideout from which to pass judgement on the behaviour and ethics of the opposition and even teammates. It is often swathed in double-standards and hypocrisy.
One of the nastiest traits in the game is the treatment meted out to bowlers suspected of chucking. It is not quite the taboo subject it was seventy years ago, but the stigma has almost the same stickability as it did in the 1960s.
West Indian fast bowler, Charlie Griffith, formed a formidable new ball partnership with Wes Hall and claimed 94 wickets in 28 Tests before his career ground to a halt and he was excluded from the game after being no-balled for throwing. He had an unusual, chest-on action which biokineticists say would most likely have been ‘cleared’ with today’s technology.
Australia’s left arm-arm fast bowler, Ian Meckiff, was no-balled four times in his first over in a Test match against South Africa in 1963. His captain, Richie Benaud, chose not to ‘risk’ using him again for the rest of the match and Meckiff, who took 45 wickets in 18 Tests, retired from cricket immediately afterwards and never played again. A combination of injured pride and the stigma of the accusation made him walk away.
Again, biomechanic analysis of the grainy footage of him bowling suggests he had a hyper-extensive wrist which caused him to ‘flick’ the ball at the point of delivery creating an optical illusion of throwing.
Even today there are match-fixers who have been more successfully reintegrated into the sport than some bowlers who have been reported for suspected illegal actions. The game would do well to remind itself of two things: The ‘offence’ is, actually, only a no-ball. Nothing more, nothing less. And, importantly, there is almost never any intention to gain an unfair advantage (‘cheat’ is far too strong a word.)
Since 1990 I have only ever been aware of one bowler in professional (or amateur) cricket who was aware that his faster delivery was ‘probably’ illegal. He used it so sparingly that umpires were usually hoodwinked into thinking they had imagined it, and usually saved it as a special treat for especially irritating batsmen.
Spinners have been more in the spotlight in recent years which brings us to Subrayen who was reported for a suspect action after his ODI debut at the age of 31 against Australia last month. That he should reach that age, and the game’s grandest stage, and be under suspicion is abhorrent.
The testing procedure he underwent in Brisbane was more rigorous than anyone might imagine, unless they’ve actually witnessed it. An exhaustive collection of video clips and still images is collected by the testers and the bowler is required to replicate every single one of them, at the same speed, from every angle. The bowler cannot simply ‘modify’ his technique to pass the test.
Despite the ‘suspect’ being wired up in the unfamiliar surrounds of what is effectively a laboratory, they are required to reproduce every one of the recorded deliveries at least half a dozen times until there is a sufficient body of evidence to prove that the elbow does not straighten beyond the permitted 15 degrees. It can take upwards of three hours.
Unlike the last South African to undergo testing, every single one of Subrayen’s deliveries was cleared. Just under a decade ago, Johan Botha was informed that his ‘doosra’ did not pass the test and he would no longer be permitted to bowl it. It didn’t stop the merciless Australian crowds from yelling ‘no ball!’ every time be bowled.
Subrayen is a fine, wicket-taking bowler who will, hopefully, play international cricket again. There are tours to Pakistan and India before the year’s end for which he had/has been earmarked. He will be under greater scrutiny than any other bowlers and there will always be players and commentators unable to get over their suspicions, despite the evidence. Fortunately, he is a strong character. He will need to be.
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It is only the Australians who are sighting people for throwing. No other team that I can recall has sighted any bowler in the last 20 years. I cannot recall also if any of their sightings were successful.