Guyana Harpy Eagles fast bowler Ronsford Beaton will miss the final round of the West Indies Four-Day Championship after being suspended from bowling following reports of a suspect bowling action in the fourth round match against Jamaica Scorpions at the National Stadium, Providence.
Beaton, who has played a significant role in the Harpy Eagles’ successful run this season, has been replaced by fast bowler Demitri Cameron, News Room Sport was able to confirm on Tuesday evening.
The news of Beaton’s suspension comes on the eve of the Harpy Eagles’ crucial fifth round game against the Leeward Islands Hurricanes at the National Stadium, Providence.
Match Referee Reon King, on-field umpires Shannon Crawford and Nigel Duguid and fourth umpire Ryan Banwarie reported that Beaton’s elbow extension appeared not to fall within the 15-degree tolerance range during the Scorpions second innings.
According to the International Cricket Council (ICC) regulations, “An Illegal Bowling Action is where a player is throwing rather than bowling the ball. This is defined by the ICC as being where the player’s elbow extends by an amount of more than 15 degrees between their arm reaching the horizontal and the ball being released.”
Review of video recordings of Beaton’s action by Dr. Mark King, Professor of Sports Biomechanics at Loughborough University, found that the bowler “has levels of elbow extension that are likely to be over the 15º elbow extension limit.”
The Guyana Cricket Board, in a press release on Tuesday evening, quoted from a correspondence received from Cricket West Indies (CWI) regarding the matter.
“The CWI procedure for persons using a suspected illegal bowling action entails the footage from the match in question being sent to Loughborough University. This procedure was followed, and confirmed by an opinion report, that the action used by Ronsford Beaton is illegal. Consequently, in keeping with the CWI procedure for an illegal action used, Ronsford Beaton is suspended from bowling with immediate effect.”
Further, the correspondence indicated: “Under the ICC guidelines, CWI must report Beaton’s suspension to the International Cricket Council (ICC), who will advise other playing nations of his suspension, since the suspension extends to tournaments played in those nations as well.”
This is not the first time Beaton has been reported for a suspect action.
He was first reported on December 27, 2017 and suspended in May 2018; he was then cleared in August 2018.
In November 2019, Beaton again failed an independent assessment of his bowling action, which had been reported as suspect during Guyana Jaguars’ match against the United States in the Colonial Medical Insurance Super50 Cup.
His remodelled action was subsequently re-assessed at Loughborough University in England, where the amount of elbow extension for all his deliveries was within the 15-degree limit allowed by the ICC.
He was then cleared to resume bowling in January 2022.
Resurgence in First-Class cricket
Beaton has been a key man in the Harpy Eagles table-topping run this season. The Essequibian has picked up 18 wickets in four games, including a best of 4-31 versus Trinidad and Tobago Red Force in round three.
With the exception of the first innings of the opening game against Barbados Pride when he went wicketless, Beaton has picked up at least two wickets in every innings thereafter.
He also played a crucial role with the bat for Harpy Eagles in round two against Windward Islands Volcanoes, facing 24 balls for one not out in a last-wicket partnership of 39 in 17.1 overs with Kevin Sinclair to secure a draw.
In the first innings, he made 10 not out off 42 deliveries.
