Former national and West Indies fast bowler Sir Andy Roberts believes that spinner Sunil Narine should consider taking a hiatus from international cricket.
Sir Andy, also a former West Indies selector, suggests that the Trinidadian should think about taking at least two years off to correct his illegal bowling action.
“If you are going to overcome pelting, you can’t do it in 15 days, you can’t do it in two months, you can’t do it in six months because you have been playing cricket for the greater part of your life.
Narine is about 29 or 30, so he must have been playing from since he was about 18 or 19 and using the same action,” he said.
“I would say if Narine wants to come back then he has to forget about First Class cricket for at least two or three years, because you have to repeat all of those deliveries so he can get accustomed to doing it.”
Narine was suspended from bowling in international cricket, with immediate effect, after his action was found to be illegal. An independent assessment revealed that all variations of his deliveries exceeded the 15-degree limit. Narine’s action was reported earlier this month during the third ODI against Sri Lanka in Pallekele.
But, according to Sir Andy, the player’s future in international cricket depends largely on how seriously he approaches the recovery process.
“I think that once you have a suspect action, if you are prepared to do the hard work to straighten it, then you would succeed. But he is going to have to lose a number of his wicket-taking deliveries like the doosra and he has a problem with his off-break, so that’s a big problem,” he said.
Narine was playing against Sri Lanka after a gap of more than a year in international cricket, and finished with four wickets from three ODIs at an average of 18. He is currently the No 1 ranked bowler in the ICC rankings for ODIs and T20Is.
The Trinidadian is currently playing in the Bangladesh Premier League for Comilla Victorians, and this suspension means he won’t be allowed to bowl in the BPL either.
The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) said that Narine would receive its full support as he works on correcting his action.