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Why is Malinga’s bowling action legal? Is it something to do with a difference between slinging and throwing?
The incident in today’s game where the Sri Lanka fielder helped the ball over the boundary line only to help it back into play – why wasn’t that a six?
The six that never was is an interesting case. According to Law 19, in order to be six, the ball has to not just cross the boundary in the air, but also to pitch beyond the boundary – basically, having contact with anything beyond the boundary rope, including people or fielders, providing they have some part of their body touching the ground. Now Mathews in this instance caught the ball inside the boundary, fell backwards but before he crossed the line, threw it up in the air. He then leapt up and smacked it with his hand back into play. At no point did the ball actually pitch beyond the boundary and therefore, it cannot be a six.
The rules on throwing are included as part of Law 24, on No Balls. The definition of a fair delivery is that once the arm has reached the level of the shoulder in the delivery swing, the elbow joint should not straighten any further before the ball is released. So you can actually bowl with a bent arm if you wish, providing you do not straighten it any further. Malinga doesn’t throw the ball in this sense.
His action could possibly fall foul of this rule in another way, since with his roundarm style, it could be argued that his delivery arm doesn’t actually reach shoulder height and so he cannot satisfy the requirement of Law 24 Part 3. But this would be contentious to say the least. If roundarm bowling were to be specifically outlawed, like underam bowling is, then he might have a problem.
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Waqar Younis made the ‘slinging’ action famous, but I think today’s bowlers are taking things to extremes. Fidel Edwards, to his credit, actually controls the ball extremely well, but Malinga appears completely aimless at times and should, in my opinion, have his ‘style’ examined closely.
Perception plays a large part in appraising the actions of various bowlers, but how Kieron Pollard is allowed to continue bowling is completely beyond me. When the likes of Shoaib Akhtar have been pulled up – an unusual case in that his elbow actually bends the wrong way – it seems amazing that Pollard has gone unnoticed. He is, in every sense of the word, a thrower and perception plays no part.
As for the Sri Lankan saving six – pure genius.
He has done very well to know the rule, I have watched and played cricket for too many years and I wasn’t aware that you could do that.
Coin
It was indeed a fine bit of fielding.
Malinga is a little wayward on occasions, but no more so than James Anderson. He has been scrutinised closely by every team he has played against and if he was in any way close to chucking, it would have been raised before now. I can’t see that he chucks it at all, but as I said, his essentially round arm style doesn’t seem to me to come up to shoulder height. Personally, I would clarify the rule to allow round arm bowling. I think Malinga is fascinating to watch.
And of course, the greatest slinger of all time was Jeff Thomson, who was also probably the fastest bowler ever.
I believe Tony Greig’s toes still show the effectiveness of Thomson’s yorker.
Colin
Thanks for the explanation. Personally I still think if a shot has gone over the boundary rope whether helped or otherwise it should be six no matter how good a piece of fielding it was.
As a matter of interest, in soccer is a goal deemed to have been scored if in the officials’ opinion it has crossed the line whilst still in the air without ‘pitching’, or can a goalkeeper –
a la
Matthews – punch the ball back into play providing he is not touching the ground/woodwork, and save the goal.
As a matter of interest, in soccer is a goal deemed to have been scored if in the officials’ opinion it has crossed the line whilst still in the air without ‘pitching’, or can a goalkeeper –
a la
Matthews – punch the ball back into play providing he is not touching the ground/woodwork, and save the goal.
No. Once the whole of the ball has crossed the line then a goal has been scored. It doesn’t have to touch the ground or another part of the goal.
Thanks DB
If the same rule applied to hitting sixes perhaps cricket would need linesmen too (assistant umpires?
) strategically placed at 22.5 degree intervals around the boundary rope, particularly during the jolly crash bang wallop of Twenty/20 
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Rugby’s the same though – the ball isn’t ‘in touch’ unless it has hit the ground or the player in possession is in contact with the whitewash.
Good stuff
It’s an eternity since I muddied myself on a wintery sportsfield so may well be wrong, but isn’t it the case that in soccer the ball remains ‘in play’ or is no goal if it hits the whitewash but in rugby it is ‘in touch’ or a try…or t’other way round
And in footie what about the case of the in-swinger booted up the wing which may cross the line airborne before curving back into play. A throw in?
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