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| |  Friday, 12 October, 2001, 02:01 GMT 03:01 UK Kirtley vows to clear name Kirtley has been officially reported for a suspect action England fast bowler James Kirtley has said he is determined to clear his name after he was reported for having a suspect action on the England tour of Zimbabwe. The match referee, Colonel Naushad Ali, from Pakistan, first raised doubts about the action of the 26-year-old following his international debut in Harare last Wednesday. Having studied video evidence, he has now formally reported his views to the England management, the Zimbabwe Cricket Union and the International Cricket Conference in London. But Kirtley said he is convinced he will be backed by the cricketing authorities.
"It's one person's opinion and a situation I've been through before," he said. "I've shown the mental strength to get through this in the past and I'll do it again. "I got cleared last November by the ECB and nothing has changed in the last 11 months. "Ever since I was a young boy I've had subtle joints and my arm hyper-extends which may explain the doubts over my action, but I'll come out the other side I'm sure." England coach Duncan Fletcher reacted to the news by backing the young fast bowler. "I'm very surprised about it from James' point of view because we picked him for the tour to Zimbabwe as a cricketer and had no suspicions about his action whatsoever until the match referee mentioned it the other day," Fletcher said.
And captain Nasser Hussain also leapt to Kirtley's defence. "My main concern is for James because he's been an absolute blessing for me on this tour," he said. "Being picked for England has been the highlight of his career and this has blown up in his face again. "But he has has my full support, the support of the England team and hopefully all of English cricket and I'm sure he's mentally strong enough to get through this." Six weeks to report Kirtley's defence is that he has an excessively flexible elbow, which can lead some umpires to believe the arm is being illegally straightened during the final part of delivery. The condition, known as hyperextension, has also dogged leading Pakistani paceman Shoaib Akhtar. The England and Wales Cricket Board passed Kirtley's action as legal after extensive video and biomechanical analysis last November. The board will now be called upon again to appoint a coach to work with Kirtley to correct the problem. It has six weeks to submit a report back to the ICC for approval, either pointing out the measures taken or clearing the action. | |
See also:  04 Oct 01 | Cricket 05 Oct 01 | England in Zimbabwe Top England in Zimbabwe stories now: Links to more England in Zimbabwe stories are at the foot of the page. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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