Chucking meaning in Cricket: What is chucking in cricket? Is Mohammad Hasnain bowling action objectionable?

Chucking meaning in Cricket: Pakistan pacer Mohammad Hasnain’s action dominated headlines yet again during The Hundred 2022 match on Sunday.

During the 14th match of the ongoing The Hundred Men’s competition between the Oval Invincibles and Southern Brave, at the Kennington Oval in London, Brave’s all-rounder Marcus Stoinis seemed to be questioning the legality of Pakistan and Invincibles’ pacer Mohammad Hasnain’s delivery after getting dismissed.

During the 61st delivery of the innings, Stoinis (37 off 27) got dismissed off a short delivery bowled by Hasnain, which perhaps got big on him, to ultimately flat-bat it high in the air and caught by the fielder at mid-off.

Post the dismissal, Stoinis explicitly seemed to suggest that the Pakistani pacer’s action during his dismissal delivery was a chucking one, for which the latter has been accused of earlier as well and was resultantly also suspended from bowling for a brief period earlier this year.

Chucking meaning in Cricket

‘Chucking’ refers to an illegal bowling action which occurs when a bowler throws the ball instead of bowling. As per the ICC rules and regulations regarding illegal bowling actions, a bowler’s action is illegal if his/her elbow extends by an amount of more than 15 degrees between their arm reaching the horizontal and the ball being released.

ICC tests the players’ action using high-tech biomechanics and experts to determine the legality. If a bowler is found to be chucking, he/she needs to get their action rectified before they are allowed to take the field once again in international cricket.

Chucking in cricket is illegal as it gives an added advantage to the bowlers in the game. If a bowler flexes his/her arm over 15 degrees, he/she gets to generate more pace and thus make it unfairly difficult for the batters to play.

Is Mohammad Hasnain bowling action objectionable?

Hasnain’s bowling action was reported by umpire Gerard Abood during the Big Bash League (BBL) match between Sydney Thunder and Adelaide Strikers in January this year.

After undergoing the Biomechanics tests, it was confirmed by the findings of the Lahore University of Management Sciences, that the pacer was indeed bending his elbow more than the permissible 15 degrees limit by the ICC.

After facing suspension from bowling for a brief period, the 22-year-old was declared fit to bowl again following a tweak in his action which met the ICC’s set limit.

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