- South Dartmoor back to winning ways in cups
- Tom Allin tournament raised more than £5,000 for air ambulance
- Taverners kit bag delivered to Sri Lankan youngsters
- Devon trying to contact the class of 56
- Paceman Tshepo running in Virgin London Marathon
- Five Devon women in Western Storm squad for Kia Super League
- Registration night for all ages at Topsham on Monday
- Lots pouring in for auction at Allin Memorial tournament
- Thames Valley Gentlemen Cricket Club
- Bradninch add Argentinian flavour to Devon League
- Ipplepen youth registration night on Friday
- Final call for Groundsmans first seminar this year
- Devon League official tackling London Marathon for charity
- Bovey on familiar territory in Aaron Printers Cup
- Brockman Cup - Cup Kings lie in wait for holders
- Shepherd Trust helps Kingsbridge build for sustainable future
- DCL - Umpire Appointments 2016 (May 7th - July 2nd)
- Long standing records beaten
- North Devon see off Paignton chase
ECB rules regarding bowlers who have been suspended while remedial work takes place are likely to be changed in the wake of the Glenn Querl affair.
Querl, who plays for North Devon, was suspended from bowling in all forms of cricket last month after ECB experts ruled his action didn’t comply with current regulations.
The Zimbabwean’s action was called into question while he was playing for Hampshire 2nd XI, not in a Devon League Premier Division game.
Although Querl wasn’t allowed to bowl in matches, he could carry on playing as a batsman.
Hampshire, where Querl had been engaged on a short-term basis, said they would work through the problems with his action so he could resume bowling again.
Former England fast bowler Craig White worked with Querl, who was then assessed by ECB specialists last week. On Friday, the ECB told Hampshire the player could bowl again in league and county 2nd XI fixtures, but not in First Class matches.
Devon League officials couldn’t understand why First Class cricket should have different rules to the rest of the game – and when they scoured the ECB regulations found what they saw as a flaw in the decision handed down by Lord’s.
Suspended players can only resume bowling in league matches with the permission of that competition’s officials, and that consent had not been obtained.
Jim Wood, the Devon Cricket Board chairman, went out to bat for the league against the ECB and came back with assurances the rules will be changed before the end of the current season.
Said Wood: ‘No one wanted to stop Glenn Querl playing again, but the way ECB went about it put the Devon League and the Devon umpires in an invidious position.
‘The current ECB rules say a suspended player can play under the supervision of his county and with the consent of the ECB continue to play 2nd XI county cricket and league cricket, subject to the league giving approval.
Concerns about the players action were raised in Second XI Cricket and all of the remedial work has been undertaken by Hampshire CCC.
‘Our view was that it would have been much better to have reintroduced him to bowling in the same arena, i.e. Playing for Hampshire 2nd XI.
‘There would be the support and help if things had not gone well. This would also provide the lead into league cricket if this had gone well.
‘There was a strong feeling in some quarters of the league that the player should not have been allowed to bowl until the proper discussions and deliberations had taken place and the prospect of banning him from bowling was considered.
‘None of this was helped by the decision being relayed to the Dcl on Friday afternoon at 2.30, giving the impression they had no choice in the matter.
‘The DCL did not wish to take any action that penalised the player following their frustration with the ECB and with a lot of goodwill on all sides he played without incident for North Devon against Torquay.’
Paul Bedford from the ECB said Devon were the first county board to question the protocol or the way it was implemented,
Bedford said with hindsight the matter could have been handled better and Wood’s recommendations will form the basis of a new protocol being put to clubs next month.
The new regulations will say:
During the suspension of a bowler for having an illegal bowling action the First Class county may ask permission from ECB for the bowler to try out the remodelled action.
Following such a request, and as long as there has been a period of rehabilitation, ECB can give permission for the player to participate fully in second eleven and league cricket to develop the remodelled action.
The player is still suspended from bowling in competitive county cricket at this time. Once the bowler has completed a 2nd X1 match and subject to no further report being made, the league will be advised that the bowler is able to bowl in Premier League matches.
Added Bedford: ‘I plan to gain acceptance or refinement of this process at the Premier League chairman’s meeting on August 13 for the 2014 season and to be clear if a league is happy for a bowler to play without playing in a 2nd X1 fixture then ECB will not get in the way of this opportunity taking place.’