“Throwing” down the gauntlet: What constitutes an illegal delivery in cricket?

The Indian Premier League (“IPL”) has been a potboiler of sorts for cricket over the years. While still on a sticky wicket with puritans of the game, it has increased the viewership across segments and offered entertaining games over a course of two months to the public and live matches are being held in Indian cities that had seen a drought of live cricket for the past several years. It has brought new talent and techniques from players both old and new to the fore. One such example is the spell-binding bowling action of the young Sri Lankan, Matheesha Pathirana, who decorated the bowling arsenal of the winners of the latest edition, Chennai Super Kings.1 It is his low-arm action that has attracted attention, and brought the focus back on the technicalities of bowling actions, very reminiscent of his countryman, Lasith Malinga.

In light of these recent controversies, this article examines the Laws of Cricket2 (“Laws”) and ICC Regulations for the Review of Bowlers reported with Suspected Illegal Bowling Actions to explain exactly what does and does not constitute a fair delivery in cricket, and how the review and assessment procedure operates.