ICC committee mulls better methods to detect flex

The ICC's cricket committee has stated that the methods currently in use to detect illegal bowling actions are imperfect, reports Cricinfo.
The committee, which discussed the issue during a two-day meeting in Bangalore on June 3 and 4, said that numerous international bowlers with "suspect" actions were continuing to bowl undetected, and hence it was important that match officials get support from biomechanists to identify the illegal actions with "more confidence".
"The committee discussed the issue of illegal bowling actions, and believed that there are a number of bowlers currently employing suspect actions in international cricket, and that the ICC's reporting and testing procedures are not adequately scrutinising these bowlers," the ICC said in a release.
"It recommended that changes be considered to encourage umpires and referees to identify suspect bowlers with greater confidence, to use the expertise of the biomechanists working in this area to assume a greater role during the assessment process, and to allow for ongoing scrutiny of bowlers once they have been identified under the ICC procedures."
To make the process more robust, the ICC has decided to open illegal-action testing centres in more countries.
Until now, bowlers had to travel to the laboratories at the Universtiy of Western Australia in Perth to undergo testing, but the committee was informed of additional centres being accredited by the ICC.
"Members of the committee were also updated on the project to increase the number of illegal-action testing centres around the cricketing world, noting that Cardiff Metropolitan University was now accredited to conduct illegal action testing for the ICC, and that other facilities in India, Australia, England and South Africa were likely to be accredited over coming months," the release said.