Saints flatten Victors One… Jordan gets deflated

Guardian General Saints shot up to 98 points from six matches to lead the table in the 2014 National Lotteries Authority Premier Division of the national cricket programme.{{more}}

Saints added to their tally with a comprehensive innings and 26 runs triumph over Victors One last weekend at the Arnos Vale One Playing Field.

Victors One, who were without two of their more accomplished players in Miles Bascombe and Alston Bobb, inched their way to 169 all out. Lauron Francois top scored with 64.

Bowling for Saints, Kenroy Peters grabbed 4 for 31 and Rommel Currency, 3 for 46.

Saints replied with 258 all out; Rommel Currency scored 79, Sunil Ambris, 60 and Rolando Wright, 41.

Batting a second time, Victors One was dismissed for 63, with Currency capturing 3 for 9 and Peters 3 for 10.

But Victors One’s woes began when their key fast bowler Ray Jordan was no- balled by umpire Roger Davis, for his bowling action in Saints’ lone innings.

Jordan, fresh from the ICC Under-19 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates, where he was the lead bowler for the West Indies with 12 wickets, had to be pulled out of the attack, thus leaving Victors One a further weakened bunch.

The man at the centre of the call, Roger Davis, who called Jordan last year as well, told SEARCHLIGHT “I will always call any bowler who is throwing… I will always apply the law.”

Davis said that prior to calling him on Sunday, Jordan was warned officially on Saturday afternoon by him, in the presence of the other umpire Colbert Mc Donald and Victors One’s captain Donwell Hector.

“It is not the first time that I have called him for throwing; in fact it is about the fifth time…. I have called others like Mohammed Lavia of Police, Rolando Wright, Teran Simon from Spartans, as well as others whose names I can’t recall now, but no one makes a fuss about them,” Davis said forcefully.

Davis noted that it is within his right to call any bowler for any action that he deems illegal, since there are no stipulations and playing conditions in the local cricket competitions, under the aegis of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Cricket Association, which call on an umpire to report the alleged offenders.

But Davis contends that even though this was in place, the local association does not have the financial resources to send bowlers to have their actions scrutinized.

At the international level, the current regulations of the International Cricket Council (ICC) set the legal limit of 15 degrees of permissible straightening of the elbow joint for all bowlers in international cricket.

This law applies between the point at which the bowling arm passes above shoulder height and the point at which the ball is released.

Reports are that Jordan was recently sent to Australia by the regional cricket authorities for a biomechanical analysis.

The 19-year-old Jordan is considered one of the regional prospects and is already being eyed by one team for a possible drafting to its cricket programme.

Jordan, since his return from the ICC World Cup last month, has hopped over to Trinidad and Tobago to play for Clarke Road United, in one of that country’s domestic competitions. (RT)