Flintoff’s bowling action reported

THE bowling action of England’s all-rounder Andrew Flintoff has allegedly been reported by the West Indies cricket team to the International Cricket Council (ICC) match referee. The drama started during the West Indies first innings at Edgbaston when skipper Brian Lara could take no more and went down to the umpire. It is alleged that the champion batsman told the umpire that Flintoff had a flawed action and it was not legal.

The problem is with Flintoff’s final action before delivery. It is alleged that the report stated that the England allrounder is holding on to the ball too long before releasing and hence the batsmen have to change their shot selection at the last moment and hurry their stroke. Lara with his score on 95 received a delivery from Flintoff that he completely lost sight of and went down to the umpire. The very next ball Lara edged to slip — falling five runs short of his century. The English commentators went on and on about the ordinary bowling of Flintoff, stating that he had found the formula to dismiss Lara and the world record holder was finding it very hard to come to terms with his bowling.

Lara really had trouble with Flintoff but it was clear that he wasn’t picking up the ball. The battle between the two started in the Caribbean where Lara also had difficulty negotiating the “Golden Boy” of English cricket. Meanwhile, there is an alleged rift among players in the West Indies team who are accused of  going through the motions. It was also alleged that when one former player tried to impart his knowledge to a current player, the latter was very abusive and the former was told where to get off.