Zimbabwean bowler Kaia under ICC probe

AFTER a forgettable performance in the one-off Test match, where he was dismissed for a pair of ducks, the week could not get any worse for Zimbabwe cricket team player Roy Kaia.

This is after the 29-year-old national team star was reported to the International Cricket Council (ICC) for a suspect bowling action following his cameo with the ball in the one-off Test which ended at Harare Sports Club on Sunday.

Kaia found the going tough in the match which Zimbabwe lost by 220 runs against Bangladesh.

The middle order batsman was dismissed without troubling the scorers in both innings of the Test match while also failing to take a wicket with his off-spin in the 23 overs he bowled in both innings.

Despite finishing wicketless during the match, Kaia, who had been named as Zimbabwe's main spinner in the match, has been reported with a suspected illegal bowling action.

In a statement yesterday, the ICC announced that the match officials' report, which was handed over to the Zimbabwe team management, cited concerns about the legality of the 29-year-old offspinner's bowling action.

"Video footage of Kaia's bowling action from the match will now be scrutinised by an expert panel as attendance and assessment at an ICC accredited testing centre is not possible due to various restrictions resulting from COVID-19. Kaia is permitted to continue bowling in international cricket until the conclusions of the Expert Panel's review are known," the ICC said in a statement.

Kaia becomes the fifth Zimbabwe international to be reported to the ICC for a suspect bowling action in recent years after Blessing Mahwire, Brian Vitori, Malcolm Waller and former national team captain Prosper Utseya.

According to the ICC, an illegal bowling action is where a player is throwing rather than bowling the ball.

This is defined by the ICC as being where the player's elbow extends by an amount of more than 15 degrees between their arm, reaching the horizontal and the ball being released.

Match officials in international cricket use the naked eye and their cricketing experience to decide whether they believe a player may be using an illegal bowling action and, if so, they will submit a report.

The player is then tested at an ICC-accredited testing centre, using state-of-the-art technology and supervised by experts in the science of human movement.

This testing process provides an answer as to whether the player is in fact using an illegal bowling action and, if so, they will be suspended from bowling until they have modified their bowling action and undertaken another test successfully.