Samuels cleared by ICC to resume bowling

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, CMC – West Indies player Marlon Samuels has been cleared by cricket’s governing body, the ICC, to resume bowling in international cricket.

In a statement Thursday, the ICC said Samuels had undergone remedial work on his off-spin action and following a reassessment last January the National Cricket Performance Centre in Loughborough, the player was now found to have a legal action.

Those tests showed that Samuels’s elbow extension for all his off-spin deliveries “was within the 15-degree level of tolerance permitted under the ICC regulations for the review of bowlers reported with suspected illegal bowling actions.”

Samuels was slapped with a one-year ban in December 2015 after he was found guilty of an illegal action while bowling during the Galle Test against Sri Lanka two months prior. It was the second time Samuels had been reported in 24 months.

However, in clearing Samuels, the ICC said umpires were free to report Samuels once they believed he was employing an action which differed from the one in the player’s reassessment.

“To assist the umpires, they will be provided with images and video footage of the bowler’s remodeled legal bowling action,” the ICC said.

“If Samuels is reported again, he will be required to undertake further analysis of his bowling action at an ICC accredited testing centre.”

The 36-year-old Samuels, more known for his elegant top order batting, has taken 41 wickets in 71 Tests, 85 in 187 One-Day Internationals 19 scalps in 51 Twenty20 Internationals.