Expert rushes to Brett Lee8217;s defence

Bruce Mason, manager of the Biomechanics Department at the Canberra-basedAustralian Institute of Sport, said all bowlers would be under suspicion iftheir actions were examined closely enough.

8220;In raising Brett Lee8217;s defence, a biomechanical analysis needs to bedone,8221; Mason said, adding the naked eye or even slow motion replays didn8217;tclarify the situation.

Mason said modern technology would show up many players.

8220;I could pull out a whole raft of bowlers and show you that at some stageof some of their deliveries they have an illegal action every bowler isgoing to do that to some degree.

8220;If you had good quality, high-speed film, you could disqualify a whole lotof fast bowlers.8221;

Asked if he had seen many bowlers he would describe as 8220;perfect8221;, Masonsaid: 8220;generally you see faults in everyone.8221;

Mason said most fast bowlers got into trouble when they tried to extractmore effort than their normal delivery.

In Lee8217;s case, the two umpires AV Jayaprakash and S Venkataraghavanspecifically criticised Lee8217;s 8220;effort ball8221;.

Mason suggested a scientific model should be drawn up which allows allbowlers some freedom of movement, saying a ruling that allows no bending ofthe arm is unworkable.

While Lee was open to question, Mason believed allegations of chucking werebased more on politics than science.

8220;The situation with Brett Lee is more of a political problem than a sportor biomechanics problem,8221; Mason said. 8220;I think the fact Brett Lee8217;s beenso successful in his career to date is why questions have been raised.

8220;If you8217;ve got someone knocking over wickets because he8217;s bowling with alot of speed, he8217;s a threat. 8220;While people don8217;t want to say things outloud, there8217;s a subconscious thing there.

8220;I don8217;t think the Indian umpires who raised it said: we8217;re going to gethim8217; but they may have asked themselves why is he bowling so fast? he mustbe doing something different, something illegal8217;.

8220;They8217;re not really seeing a bent elbow, they8217;re seeing an image in theirbrain that tells them something is wrong and they8217;re interpreting it as abent elbow.8221;

But Mason said umpires 8220;were no more skilled than anyone else8221; at making ajudgment on an illegal delivery. 8220;With high-speed camera it takes aboutfour or five hours of looking at a bowler8217;s action and evaluating it beforewe can decide he8217;s throwing it.8221;

Meanwhile, there was unexpected support for Lee from Pakistan cricketmanager Brig Mohammed Nasir, who only recently was forced to defend theaction of Pakistani quick Shoaib Akhtar. Nasir said the inquiry would notmean the end of Lee8217;s international career.

8220;In my personal opinion I found nothing wrong with him,8221; Nasir told ABCRadio here.

8220;This is one of those things where if the umpires have raised some doubtsor suspicion I8217;m sure if, at all, some remediation measures are required, itwill be done and Brett Lee will be there for a long, long time to come.8221;

Special panel to meet on priority
LONDON: World cricket8217;s special panel which advises on bowlers8217; suspectactions is to meet 8220;as a matter of priority8221; to deal with the case ofAustralia8217;s Test fast bowler Brett Lee.

The International Cricket Council ICC confirmed on Tuesday that Lee8217;saction would be reviewed by the advisory panel for illegal deliveries,following a report by the Australian Cricket Board ACB which stemmed fromAustralia8217;s Test tour of New Zealand last April.

An ICC statement said: 8220;the panel will meet by conference call as a matterof priority well ahead of Australia8217;s next match on August 16 to enable timefor remedial work if required.8221;

Australia are playing South Africa in a three-match indoor series inMelbourne in mid-August.

The 12-man panel has former India captain Sunil Gavaskar as chairman andincludes Imran Khan and fellow former fast bowler Michael Holding.