No more Doosra for Aussie youngsters

Australian spin bowling ain’t what it used to be, despite the best efforts of Nathan Hauritz during the Ashes.  So, a Spin Summit has been held to thrash out a solution to the problem.  Attending were some of the finest spin bowlers Australia has produced in recent decades, including the man Warne himself.

Aside from encouraging the selection of attacking spin bowlers in age group and grade cricket, their main concern appears to have been ensuring that pure, unblemished young spinners aren’t led astray and corrupted by that evil of all cricketing evils, the Doosra.

Here is the opinion of Ashley Mallett, who was present, as reported in the Adelaide Review:

There was unanimous agreement that the off-spinner’s ‘other-one’, the Doosra, should not be coached in Australia. I have never seen anyone actually bowl the Doosra. It has to be a chuck.  Until such time as the ICC declares that all manner of chucking is legal in the game of cricket I refuse to coach the Doosra.  All at the Spin Summit agreed.

This differs from a quote he gave in 2006 on the subject of Murali’s Doosra:

From the naked eye I thought that he did chuck, but I was convinced that he doesn’t do so when I saw him deliver with the brace on. He is able to turn his wrist in a way others are not able to.

So, does this suggest that a genuine Doosra is ok, whereas other bowlers are not using the correct technique?

When Johan Botha was asked to undergo bio-mechanic testing of his bowling action, his regular delivery was cleared, but he has now been banned from using the Doosra.  A significant number of other bowlers have had their Doosra actions questioned, including Murali, India’s Harbhajan Singh and Pakistanis Shoaib Malik & Saeed Ajmal, who were all subsequently cleared by the ICC.

So Australia will further disadvantage their own spin bowling program.  The ICC can’t ban a particular type of delivery just because some bowlers can’t do it without throwing.  And what’s to stop a spinner from deciding to learn it independently later down the line by using an overseas coach?  Better surely to coach correct methods of doing it than pretending it doesn’t exist.

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