Lawson Out Until After Review

Worried about the mental anguish that could accompany the intense scrutiny of Jermaine Lawson's bowling action, the West Indies selectors have left out the fast bowler from the side for the first three ODIs.

Officially, the WICB has only announced Lawson will miss the first ODI because he "has not sufficiently recovered from the injury to his lower back" but insiders say the plan was hatched earlier this week to have Lawson sit out the first three ODIs and then have his action studied by the Bowling Review Committee (BRC) when the series shifts to Trinidad & Tobago on May 24-25.

The WICB's Bowling Review Committee is made up of Michael Holding (chairman), Clyde Butts, David Holford, Brian Davis and Dr Terry Ali (Motion Specialist) and the decision to have the review done in T&T was made to facilitate attendance by the entire committee.

Holding, who is working as a TV commentator, is making arrangements for the TWI camera crew to help with the specialised video footage needed during the review process which one source says may be held at the indoor nets at the Sir Frank Worrell Development Centre in Trinidad.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has outlined very specific protocols by which the review must be conducted and Holding was an obvious choice to chair the WICB's BRC because he has already worked on one in Shoaib Akhtar's case.

(Download a PDF copy of the ICC's action review protocol)

Although the review can be conducted during a cricket match, sources say the WICB made a decision to avoid the public scrutiny associated with having Lawson bowl so soon after his action was reported to the ICC by the standing umpires.

During the analysis in Trinidad, Holding's committee will have Lawson bowl from his normal run-up while two synchronised high-speed cameras operating at a minimum of 200 frames per second (250 maximum) will be recording.

The ICC rules call for a minimum shutter speed of 1000Hz to prevent blurred images. "The cameras and computer to be operated and positioned in appropriate positions to facilitate a subsequent three-dimensional analysis of the shoulder, elbow, wrist and ball," according to the protocol.

The commitee is mandated to evaluate Lawson's bowling action and conduct an Anthropometric Assessment of both the bowling & non-bowling arms. The committee will study arm angles before and during delivery.

The ICC protocol also calls for the bowler to wear no clothing on the torso to enable manual digitisation of the joint centres during the data collection period.

Lawsonn will be required to bowl four ?normal ? good length deliveries?, four ?yorkers? and four ?bouncers?, which will all be recorded. During this process, there will be consultation and feedback between Lawson and the entire committee, with Holding doubling as adviser/coach.

The committee will be calculating 3D analysis for each delivery and the ICC requires that effort be made to ensure that the player is bowling "as close to match pace as possible."

"This can be measured after each delivery if the equipment is available (Radar Gun), or measured via the 3D data during analysis. If deliveries are not at a suitable speed (so as to represent match conditions) then the data shall be invalid," the ICC warned.

After all the video is reviewed and the 3D analysis is completed, the committee will present a report of its opinion and findings to the ICC.

Here is the team for the first ODI on Saturday:

Brian Lara (captain)
Ramnaresh Sarwan (vice-captain)
Omari Banks
Carlton Baugh, Jr.
Corey Collymore
Mervyn Dillon
Vasbert Drakes
Chris Gayle
Ricardo Powell
Marlon Samuels
Devon Smith
David Bernard, Jr. (12th man)