ICC Lifts Bowling Ban On Sri Lanka’s Shaminda Eranga

The Story

Shaminda Eranga, Sri Lanka’s right arm fast bowler, has been cleared by the ICC to bowl at international level after his action was found legal in the latest assessment, the International Cricket Council (ICC) confirmed today.

The 31-year-old was reported by umpires after the second Test against England at Chester-Le-Street on 31 May 2016. Later, an independent assessment conducted on June 6 at the National Cricket Performance Centre in Loughborough under ICC accreditation found out that his bowling arm extended over the 15-degree limit which led to his suspension from bowling.

“The assessment revealed that all deliveries exceeded the 15 degrees level of tolerance permitted under the regulations,” said an ICC statement.

Eranga, who’s played 41 times for Sri Lanka across all three formats, is still eligible to play domestic cricket in Sri Lanka but he cannot represent his country on the international stage.

Re-assessment saves Eranga’s career

Eranga was eligible to overturn the ban with the help of the re-assessment policy which requires the action to be remodified.

The seamer successfully underwent the process at the ICC accredited testing centre in Chennai. The result concluded that the amount of elbow extension in his standard deliveries was within the 15-degree level of tolerance permitted under the ICC Regulations for the Review of Bowlers Reported with Suspected Illegal Bowling Actions.

“The umpires are still at liberty to report Eranga in the future if they believe he is displaying a suspect action or that he is not reproducing the action that has been declared legal during this assessment,” an ICC statement read.

“To assist the umpires in this respect, they have been provided with images and video footage of the bowler’s legal bowling action.”

Eranga is now eligible for Sri Lanka’s multi-format series against India after his teammates pulled off a record run chase to beat Zimbabwe in Colombo.