W.I Umpire Reported Washington's Action

Chief executive officer of the WICB Roger Brathwaite on Tuesday confirmed that umpires in the Caribbean first class tournament made a request for the board take a look at Dwight Washington's bowling action.

"[T]here have been reports from umpires to the WICB on Washington and other players and one young player was reviewed without a report having been submitted. The Committee looked at videotapes of Washington's bowling this weekend and found no cause for concern," Brathwaite said.

The WICB is, however, pouring cold water on published reports that Washington's action was reported to the ICC and that the Jamaican speedster was left out of the West Indies first Test side as a result.

According to Brathwaite, the WICB's Bowling Review Committee found "no concern about Washington's action at this time."

"The coach of the West Indies team, Gus Logie has also stated that this was not a consideration in Washington's omission from the team that will meet England in the First Test on Thursday at Sabina Park."

According to the CEO, the WICB has implemented a proactive system for early detection of flawed bowling actions. He made it clear the ICC was "not involved" in this process. "This programme is designed to take place outside of media scrutiny with a view to ensuring that the system which the WICB has in place is effective and addresses any concerns before our players emerge onto the international stage."

"It is therefore regrettable that this matter has leaked into the media and that Washington has been subjected to unfair and unnecessary media scrutiny."

He said the WICB committee, which is chaired by Bryan Davis, had made a request for Caribbean umpires to advise of any concerns that they might have about players so that they can be reviewed and dealt with in the early stages.

It was during this stage that local umpires asked the WICB to take a look at Washington's action.

Brathwaite's statement comes at a sensitive time for the WICB, which is in the midst of trying to fix Jermaine Lawson's illegal action. The CEO did not address the issue of the board agreeing to send fast bowler Mervin Matthew to the Under-19 World Cup in Bangladesh even though it had well-documented evidence of a suspect bowling action.

According to internal WICB documents reviewed by CaribbeanCricket.com, the board's cricket committee (playing and development) twice discussed Matthew's "known suspect bowling action" and even mandated that a remedial programme be conducted by the territorial board.

"The [cricket committee] meeting discussed the implications of a player with a known suspect bowling action being selected by the WICB to participate in the Under-19 Cricket World Cup. It was however decided that [the player] would proceed to the Tournament," according to the document.

* EDITOR'S NOTE: After the publication of this story, the WICB amended its statement to delete the reference to another young player being reviewed without a report being issued.