Lara: Jermaine Lawson no ‘chucker’

KINGSTON: West Indies captain, Brian Lara, yesterday threw his weight behind young fast bowler, Jermaine Lawson, whose bowling action has been brought into question and reported to the International Cricket Council (ICC).  “I will always maintain he is innocent and ... as far as I am concerned Jermaine is going to be part of West Indies cricket for a long time,” Lara told journalists shortly after arriving for the weekend start of the seven-match ODI series.

The 21-year-old Jamaican was reported by match umpires, David Shepherd and Srinivas Venkataraghavan, after reviewing footage of his action on the first day of the fourth Test between West Indies and Australia in Antigua which ended on Tuesday. West Indies recorded a sensational three-wicket win after making 418-7, the highest ever successful second innings run chase in Test history. Lawson, who bowled only six overs in the second innings because of a back strain, had helped the West Indian cause immensely in the first innings by grabbing 7-78 as the Aussies were dismissed for 240 in their first innings.

Lawson has been in the limelight in recent months after dramatically grabbing 6-3 to route Bangladesh in that country late last year and taking a split hat-trick in a lost cause in the third Test of the West Indies/Australia series in Barbados 10 days ago. Under ICC rules, Lawson will be allowed to continue playing international cricket for at least another six weeks while he is evaluated and works alongside “specialist advisors” to improve his action.

Lara was confident that the process would work out well for his young bowler. “It might be a hurdle but I am almost sure that in the end he is going to get over it,” said Lara. He noted that Lawson was “upbeat” about the situation and was available for selection this weekend. Earlier this week, West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) president, Rev Wes Hall, also pledged support for Lawson. “There is a process. The WICB will live by that process. We will look after our bowler,” said Hall.

He said the WICB would not adopt the approach used by the Pakistan board when it instructed its players to leave the field after one of their players, Shoaib Akhtar, was called for ‘chucking’ in Sharjah two years ago. “That is not the way we play cricket in the West Indies. We think that remedial action (is needed). We think that whatever is wrong, we have the people here who could look after (Lawson). I have told him (Lawson) exactly what remedial action we will take, what has to happen, the hype that will surround this issue, ribbing from people. But the point is he has to be aware that we are behind him. He knows that and the West Indies team is behind him too,” Rev Hall said.

Hall complimented match referee, Mike Proctor, for his handling of the issue. “The match referee has been very business-like. We understood clearly what he is saying,” Hall said. Hall called for consistency in how the ICC deals with players with suspect actions and suggested that trying to bowl too fast might become a problem for young bowlers. “This speed gun thing and the postulation in the press about who bowls 100 miles (per hour) and up can easily make young men strive to get that numerical mark of 100 miles an hour,” Hall said.