Antigua : The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) has given Sunil Narine its full backing after the beleaguered off-spinner was banned from bowling in international cricket because of an illegal action. Director of Cricket Richard Pybus said on Monday the board would fully support Narine during his rehabilitation and backed the Trinidadian to bounce back from the latest blow to his career, reports CMC. “It will be a blow to Sunil to have failed the ICC biomechanics assessment of his action and be suspended from bowling,” Pybus said. “We will be offering our support to Sunil as he does the remedial work on his bowling action. I know the time and effort he has put in to do this work previously and I am sure this will just deepen his resolve to come back a better bowler.”
Narine was reported following the third One-day International (ODI) of the Sri Lanka tour earlier this month and subsequently underwent testing on his action at the Loughborough University, England. According to the International Cricket Council (ICC), the rest results showed that “all variations of his deliveries exceeded the 15 degrees level of tolerance permitted under the regulations.” Narine was suspended from bowling in international cricket with “immediate effect” but will be allowed to continue playing in the WICB domestic tournaments.Under ICC’s regulations, he can ask for his action to be re-assessed after he has undergone rehabilitation. Narine is the leading bowler in both limited overs format rankings.
WI is looking to exploit Oz’s weaknesses: Holder
Brisbane : West Indies will be aiming to exploit some of the chinks in Australia’s armour which were exposed during the just concluded series against New Zealand, skipper Jason Holder has said. Australia beat New Zealand 2-0 in the three-Test series but suffered several anxious moments in the final Test in Adelaide when they scraped home by three wickets in pursuit of a meagre 187 for victory, reports CMC. The West Indies face Australia in the first Test of the three-match series starting in Hobart on December 10. “We saw weaknesses where we could exploit but it’s important we analyse each batsman and bowler and try to come up with game plans that are best suited for the conditions that we are playing in,” Holder told reporters here on Monday. “There are some new faces mixed with some guys who have been in some rich veins of form. It’s important we put some pressure on their middle order. I think if we get early wickets with the new ball, you can get guys like Shaun Marsh and those guys who are now trying to make their way back into the side, put them under some pressure to score.” “Once we can do that it will be a relatively competitive series. Obviously they have some in-form batsmen as I have said – David Warner and Steve Smith – so we need to put pressure on their middle order and try to get them out early and put the newer guys under some pressure,” he added.
