ILLEGAL BOWLING ACTIONS 2.1 An Illegal Bowling Action is a bowling action where the Player’s Elbow Extension exceeds 15 degrees, measured using the Standard Analysis Protocols from the point at which the bowling arm reaches the horizontal until the point at which the ball is released. Any Elbow Hyperextension shall be discounted for the purposes of determining an Illegal Bowling Action.
Because if you made it 0 the sport would die.
Scientific research revealed that almost all bowling actions contained some degree of straightening at the elbow (referred to in these Illegal Bowling Regulations as “Elbow Extension”). In theory, therefore, the vast majority of bowlers, with actions considered by umpires to be legal under the Laws of Cricket, were contravening Law 24(3) each time they delivered the ball. It was also demonstrated in studies by human movement specialists that such Elbow Extension in a bowling action became noticeable to the naked eye – and started to look like a throw – when it exceeded 15 degrees.
