Chris Green fortunate to play in era where ‘chucking’ call no longer ends careers
Chris Green is not the first cricketer to be pulled for an illegal action. Such offences are no longer the mortal blow to a bowler’s credibility they were, most unfairly, in bygone generations.
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New Zealand captain Kane Williamson is one of cricket’s most respected, dignified men – yet he also knows the pain of being branded a chucker.
It happened initially in the West Indies in 2014 when he was reported, tested and banned for having an illegal action with his innocuous, part-time off-breaks.
He returned with a more side-on style but was reported again last year.
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But, despite the report, there is no stigma or stain on his standing in the game.
His problems were deemed technical not tactical and his reputation as an honourable man lives on.
As Sydney Thunder spinner Chris Green faces up to his ban for having an illegal action he can take heart from the fact that such offences are no longer a mortal blow to a bowler’s credibility as they were, most unfairly, in bygone generations.
Green’s action looks like it needs work and he will be rehabilitated and supported.
He may cop occasional barbs and will be watched closely as off-spinners often are. But he won’t face issues like Australian fast man Ian Meckiff did when he was no-balled out of cricket at the Gabba against South Africa in 1963.
Meckiff was called four times in his first over of the Test for bowling with an illegal action and never played first class cricket again.
A delightful man whose endearing nature belies the rough hand dealt by his cricket career, Meckiff had his seven-year-old son swap schools after he was taunted with “chucker’’ barbs after his father’s dramatic career finale.
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A chucking offence does not stain a man’s career like it once did.
Cricket has matured as a sport and the game can be thankful for that.
This year is the 25th anniversary of the summer when three Australian umpires called Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan for chucking and sparked a global debate on the merit of his controversial action.
It was cruel stuff for everyone involved.
Umpires brave enough to call him (justifiably in my opinion) had the confusing experience of players saying to them in hotel lifts: “Well done. About time’.
Those same players then appeared on the following night’s news saying they saw no problem with the spinner’s action.
The shudder extended all the way to the commentary box where Bill Lawry said: “I feel sick in the stomach just as I did when Ian Meckiff was called.’’
Like Green, Muralitharan was an off-spinner and, also like Green, the whispers about his action started with the players as they generally do.
The most notorious example of a player protest came when Zimbabwe’s now-Adelaide-based fast bowler Henry Olonga, a fine talent but a raw one as a youngster, bowled three balls of his first over in Test cricket before Pakistan opener Aamir Sohail decided he had seen enough.
Sohail moved to within a few centimetres of the umpire at the bowlers end before whispering: “Open your f------ eyes’’.
Eventually Olonga was no-balled for throwing.
These days, rather than roast the players by no-balling them, umpires are urged to report players with suspect actions so they can be tested and if need be sent for corrective action.
It is an empathetic system which Meckiff for one would have much appreciated.
Meckiff went through hell when he was banished, ending a seven-year career which featured 18 Tests.
Great mystery surrounded the decision by umpire Col Egar to call him. Meckiff and Egar had won a bowls tournament the previous week in Adelaide and Egar arrived in Brisbane with a trophy he gave to Meckiff on match eve.
Then he no-balled him out of cricket.
“I still don’t really know what happened,’’ Meckiff told me recently on Fox Sports Cricket Legends.
“I had a couple of beers with Col on match eve. We stayed friends after it and used to have a beer at the Adelaide Test. We never really spoke about it.
“I was shocked at the time. Richie Benaud told me: “We have a problem and we cannot bowl you again’’.
“I remember Bill Lawry, one of my teammates, being really upset. I was told I could play Sheffield Shield but only in Melbourne. I could not understand it.’’
Meckiff was at the MCG the day Muralitharan was called but when approached by journalists but was too upset to comment.
“I could not believe it could happen again. To be called like that. It should not have happened to him or myself or anyone. If there is an issue like that it should be sorted out off the ground.’’
Fortunately, it now is.
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GOOD:
The large group of Cricket Australia and broadcasting staff who have been working behind the scenes to ensure there will be a special fundraising match for bushfire relief. It’s a great effort, one of many supporting the most noble of causes.
BAD:
The fact that the Australian team will not be seen on our shores again until March. This lamentable piece of programming must never be allowed to happen again.
UGLY:
England wicketkeeper Jos Buttler’s cruel sledging of Vernon Philander and his “gut’’ in the Cape Town Test against South Africa. Talking of guts, it was a shame for England that Buttler didn’t show more in the Ashes.
Originally published as Chris Green fortunate to play in era where ‘chucking’ call no longer ends careers