Johan Botha’s bowling action under scrutiny
Proteas off-spinner and vice-captain Johan Botha’s bowling action is again under scrutiny after he was reported to the International Cricket Council (ICC) for suspected illegalities during the fourth ODI against Australia in Port Elizabeth earlier this week.
On-field umpires for Monday’s one-dayer, Brian Jerling of South Africa and Asoka de Silva of Sri Lanka, cited Botha’s quicker ball and “doosra” as the problem areas.
Botha, 26, will be available to play in the final ODI against Australia at the Wanderers on Friday, but will have a bio-medical assessment of his action. The testing will only take place once Cricket South Africa (CSA) receive formal instructions from the ICC.
“Johan was reported at the end of play in PE. We are waiting on the ICC to clarify the procedure that needs to take place. But we are confident that he will be cleared. He didn’t even bowl a single doosra on Monday,” Proteas bowling coach Vincent Barnes told the Cape Times yesterday.
Barnes said the Proteas team management are currently analysing videos of Botha’s bowling performances in comparison to Monday’s and are calling in experts and top scientists for assistance.
“We’ve called in Shafiek Abrahams, he’s worked with Johan quite a lot in the past, so he’s coming on Thursday.
“I’ve also called up the guys at the Sports Science Institute for footage when Johan was tested there the last time, and they’ve consulted with Tim Noakes, so we are doing everything on our side to get Johan ready should he be called up for testing in Perth,” Barnes added.
An official verdict on Botha’s action in the fourth ODI can only be issued after the analysis takes place. The ICC will rule on the information supplied to it by an appointed specialist.
Botha has undergone intensive testing before as he was reported for a suspect bowling action during his Test debut against Australia in Sydney in January 2006. The testing on that occasion ruled Botha’s action to be illegal and he was suspended for a month.
After months of re-working his action, it was again deemed illegal in September 2006. He worked extensively on his action during the next few months before being re-tested in 2007, and he returned to the Proteas team in 2007/08.
CSA chief executive Gerald Majola expressed disappointment following the reporting to the ICC by the match umpires.
Majola said: “This is disappointing as Johan was cleared after working very hard on his action following the ICC finding fault before.
“CSA will stand by the ICC rules and procedures, and we hope that there can be finality to the new set of tests that will follow this report.”
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