ABSTRACT
Like the bizarre mirror image of the underarm bowling incident, the issue of chucking has its origins in the dramatic paradigm shift which took place in cricket with the development and legalization of round-arm, overarm bowling. Not only were there obvious interpretive difficulties in deciding whether the bowler was illegally straightening his arm, but the earlier Laws gave sole jurisdiction for the issue to the bowler’s end umpire. As we have already seen, it would be and is extremely difficult for that umpire to check the position of the bowler’s feet, his arm motion and follow the flight and pitch of the ball for a possible LBW decision, all in an instantaneous flurry of action. While the Law was been amended so that ‘either Umpire’ may now no-ball a bowler for throwing, many interpretive difficulties surrounding the issue not just of chucking generally but of the proper jurisdiction of the umpire, as we shall see, remain.
