It has not spoken to him since his troubles in the Indian Premier League began, but the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) says it stands ready to have discussions with Sunil Narine in the hopes of helping the embattled off-spinner work out any problems he has with his bowling action.
Narine had been reported for a suspect action following the Indian Premier League game between his team the Kolkata Knight Riders’ and Sunrisers Hyderabad on April 22.
The Trinidad and Tobago bowler then went to the ICC-accredited Sri Ramachandra Arthroscopy and Sports Sciences Centre in Chennai for a biomechanical analysis of his bowling action after which the BCCI suspect bowling action committee reviewed the evidence of the match footage and the analysis, and concluded that Narine’s action for his off-break was illegal.
He is now banned from bowling his off-breaks in any match organised by the BCCI, including in the IPL however he can continue to bowl his other deliveries–the knuckle ball and the quicker straight ball.
WICB’s chief executive officer Michael Muirhead said yesterday the board is willing to offer assistance.
“We are just as informed as you are. We have not spoken to him and he has not interacted with us. At the moment I am not aware of his plans to overcome this present situation,” Muirhead told the Express.
“If he makes himself available to us, we are ready, willing and open to having discussions with him,” he added.
It is not the first time Narine has had problems with his action.
Last year he was reported twice during the Champions League T20 and was subsequently banned from bowling in the final of that tournament.
He skipped West Indies’ tours of India and South Africa late last year and earlier this year he withdrew from the World Cup squad, choosing to focus on remodeling his action.
Earlier this year, Narine underwent testing at the University of Loughborough and was cleared but the BCCI insisted he undergo more tests at the Sri Ramachandra University after which the BCCI suspect action committee cleared him.
He played just five games for Kolkata in this year’s IPL before he was report again.
“We had reached out to him in the past (last year after the Champions League T20). We had extended assistance then. We were willing to offer our assistance but he went down another path in terms of dealing with it on his own,” said Muirhead.
“He has not approached us again. It is very difficult at this time to determine what the next step will be but we are willing to talk to him and see where it goes.
“If he asks for our assistance, we will certainly look at it and see how best we can get an experienced bowler to come and help him get through the difficulty he is going through right now,” the WICB CEO explained.
Narine will now have to undergo corrective work on his action again after which he can request for another assessment by the BCCI committee.
