At the wrong bend in the World Cup

The level of excitement for the 2015 ICC World Cup has gone down by 15 degrees. It's a number that'll play on the minds of two teams West Indies and Pakistan once the tournament begins, owing to the absence of two potential match-winning spinners.
Pakistan will have to do without the services of Saeed Ajmal and West Indies without Sunil Narine, both recusing themselves from their respective team-sheets to undergo a corrective process for their bowling actions.
The wrath of those who check the bend at the elbow had never been so severe and examples are galore of bowlers spinners in particular who got away violating the cardinal 15 degree rule in the past.
The near future will be different. While those who've been 'chucked out' will watch their respective teams on television, those bowling in the tournament will find themselves under the constant glare of on-field cameras, umpires and the match-referees.
Sri Lanka's Sachithra Senanayake, Pakistan's Mohammad Hafeez are among bowlers who were suspended from bowling because of suspect actions but have returned after being cleared. The ICC will ensure that these bowlers, along with others who form a part of the 'suspect list', will be under constant check.
For this purpose alone, the ICC has set-up an independent testing centre in Brisbane, Australia, whose sole responsibility will be to fast-track tests of bowling actions reported suspect during the tournament.
The centre will provide ICC with the benefit of evaluating a bowler's action after he is reported within seven days along with a recommendation whether to clear or suspend him from the tournament. The process will be unlike any other in the past where weeks would be consumed before delivering a verdict.
In doing so, the ICC has ensured two things. The first is that teams will be wary of losing a bowler at any stage in the tournament with immediate effect if found guilty and will therefore not look at ways to hide him at any stage. The second will be the aspect of constant monitoring playing on the minds of bowlers.
In the past, allegations of violating the 15-degree rule have been levied against quite a few international bowlers of reputation. Matchwinners like Muttiah Muralitharan and Harbhajan Singh, among others, have been put through intense biomechanical tests stretching over weeks to assess their bowling actions.
While these bowlers were cleared in time, it is the length of those examinations that sucked the wind out of the effort put in by the ICC. As opposed to such instances, the present system of having a fast-track testing centre is a welcome change.
"We want to make sure that we don't lose ground on what I think has been significant progress over the last few months," ICC's chief executive Dave Richardson was quoted as saying last week. "The game realised that we had a significant problem and there were just too many bowlers bowling with suspected actions. So, I think we (ICC) have made very good progress in identifying those bowlers, sending them off to be tested and where necessary, suspending them until they can remedy their actions," he added.
To many, the absence of Ajmal and Narine will hurt. The two spinners have been adept and mysterious in their respective styles to catch the imagination of fearing batsmen and admiring fans alike.
Huge grounds and dry conditions in Australia will benefit teams carrying slower bowlers for the World Cup and Pakistan and West Indies will be the first to acknowledge the absence of these men. While they'll look for options within, the absence of Ajmal and Narine from the tournament will underline the importance of the ICC whiplash that was long overdue.
166.50 Batting average recorded by Glenn Turner while aggregating 333 in four innings, including two hundreds, for New Zealand in the 1975 edition -the most by a batsman in any edition of the World Cup.
673 Run-aggregate of Sachin Tendulkar at an average of 61.18 in 11 matches in 2002-03 the most in a single edition of the World Cup. Matthew Hayden is the only other batsman to score more than 600 runs in a World Cup -659 (ave.73.22) in 11 games in 2006-07
15 Number of catches -the most in a World Cup -in a match between West Indies and Pakistan in 2007 at Kingston. Pakistan wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal grabbed four out of these 15 catches.