Spinner Sanjit Saha was suspended for an illegal bowling action during the ICC Under-19 World Cup in January this year and the loss of an important bowler was a big blow for the Bangladesh team. That saga was however forgotten,  but now the topic of illegal bowling actions is on everyone's lips after Arafat Sunny and Taskin Ahmed's suspension for the same reason has seriously hampered Bangladesh's ICC World Twenty20 campaign in India.

Ask Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, it's simply unbearable. The suspension of Taskin has engendered a lot of protest and wringing of hands, from the cricket community both home and abroad. There was however hardly anybody who raised a question about Sunny's suspension. There will be enough time to discuss the International Cricket Council's (ICC's) process regarding the reporting of and judgement of illegal actions, but perhaps it is time to look deep into our own cricketing culture and whether it sets up sufficient deterrents to keep young bowlers from developing bad bowling habits. Unfortunately, an examination of our domestic cricket reveals that far from being discouraged, bowlers with improper actions are actually encouraged.

“Everybody knows what is happing in the domestic scene. There are huge numbers of bowlers who simply throw the ball. Chucking has spread like cancer. There are some rules but it's not for implementation. You even find some teams who possess three left-arm spinners with suspect actions,” said former cricketer cum club official Tanjeeb Ahsan Saad.

Umpire Nadir Shah has long been officiating matches at deferent levels and he has had a bitter experience regarding this issue. “If I am not wrong, we the umpires had submitted a long list, maybe in the year 2003 or 2004, and asked the officials to look into those suspect bowlers but nothing has come of it. It is very sad that we lost bowlers in the middle of such a big tournament but it's the consequence of our bad domestic culture regarding illegal bowling. I have seen lot of bowlers whose actions were illegal even viewed with the naked eye. Some may have even crossed the 50-degree mark [the ICC tolerates a maximum of 15 degrees of elbow flex], but they continue playing.

“It has been happening for a long time but we have to stop it,” continued Nadir Shah.

Another umpire and former national pacer, Anisur Rahman, has had the same experience. “Our duty is to give the report on suspect bowling and we submitted a lot but eventually saw those bowlers continue bowling in the same manner. Everybody knows what is happening and it is no secret,” said Anisur.

Former left-arm spinner turned cricket writer Mohammad Isam also portrayed a sordid picture. “There is a shadow encouragement for illegal bowling in the domestic leagues; that is the reality. From my personal experience what I have seen is that some club officials encourage the bowlers to take the advantage. And nothing has changed in domestic cricket but there are some bold initiatives in the age-group levels. Everybody is actually relaxed regarding the issue of illegal bowling actions.”

On condition of anonymity an umpire who officiates in second division and first division matches said: “Sometimes we don't dare give any report because we don't want to go against the powerful officials. Now, many umpires are not interested to do their duty as they know it will bring no result.”

Another umpire quipped: “Brother, I gave reports against a bowler several times for his suspect bowling action in domestic cricket but nothing has happened. Instead that bowler, now an international player, teased me saying 'you may have reported me but see, I'm still playing top-level cricket without any problem.”

And thus the umpires became fed up.

A former cricketer on condition of anonymity revealed that an established spinner once advised him to wear full-sleeved shirts to avoid detection, and that underlines the extent of the malaise of illegal bowling in the country.

Sharif Mahmud Palash, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) umpire's manager, also has no idea about what happens after they submit the report of the umpires to the respective committees that run different domestic competitions.          

There have been whispers over the bowling action of young spinner Sanjit but still he made the cut for the World Cup team. “Yes, there are problems in domestic leagues and a bad culture has developed but in age levels everything is scrutinised. I think the Sanjit case is an exception. We didn't learn anything before he was reported during the world cup. And you cannot always reach conclusions after watching something with the naked eye and we don't have labs where we can check it,” said former national player turned junior selector Ehsanul Haque.

Nazmul Abedin Fahim, the national game development manager, echoed this sentiment but said that the time has come to change the culture. “I think everybody now can understand what consequence we will face if we don't change our culture. We don't have time to waste and we should give the message to all levels that there is no place for illegal action. There are two aspects -- we should create a new culture in our domestic cricket and we should improve technologically and I am sure the board [BCB] will do everything to deal with this new challenge.”

National selector Habibul Bashar also asked for a new beginning. “It's not as if we are the only country who are facing this kind of problem but many countries have already started to identify the suspect bowlers in their domestic competitions after ICC's recent crackdown. We should come out from our age-old practices and show respect to the umpires' reports. The umpires should have the freedom for the greater interest of our cricket. I talked with [former India batsman] Rahul Dravid during the Under-19 World Cup regarding this issue and we thought that the ICC and the respective boards should take the initiative from the early stage so that one can pursue another profession if he is not fit.”

There is a review committee but it's non-functioning. More than two years ago the umpires committee gave a proposal to the board regarding how they can deal with this problem, but the board high-ups did not take any action.

BCB CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury however promised a solution this time. “Yes, now we are regularly facing this kind of problem as our bowlers have been suspended at a crucial time, so we must take initiatives regarding this issue. We don't think it would be wise to make a routine committee to deal with this matter; rather we are in the process of making an effective review committee and setting up a system so that we can create a new culture.”

The club officials' involvement with the board always creates problems in solving this kind of issue. When Chowdhury's attention was drawn regarding this issue, he diplomatically said: “This is the right time for us to do something effective and I believe nobody will try to oppose it.”

Time will only tell whether he will be able to bell the cat or whether he will come up with the same old diplomatic answer if the problem persists but we must create a cricketing culture where one should not encourage an illegal practice to gain an unfair advantage. Otherwise such disappointments on the world stage will keep happening.