THE ALREADY TROUBLED West Indies tour of Sri Lanka was literally thrown into further crisis yesterday with the announcement by the International Cricket Council (ICC) that fast bowler Jermaine Lawson had been reported for the second time in his brief career over doubts about his action.
The report, by on-field umpires Simon Taufel of Australia and Nadeem Ghouri of Pakistan, television umpire Peter Manuel and fourth official Ranmore Martinez of Sri Lanka, followed the first Test against Sri Lanka on Saturday in which Lawson had match figures of eight for 102 in the West Indies' defeat by six wickets.
The team's media manager, Imran Khan, said last night that Lawson was "obviously disappointed" but added that there would be no further comment from management until the situation became clearer.
He could not say whether the pacer would be chosen for the second Test, starting in Kandy on Friday, as the West Indies are still at liberty to do.
It was the big Jamaican's 11th Test and first since last August against England at the Oval in London, a gap during which he recovered from a stress fracture of the back.
"The match officials had concerns with potential elbow flexation when viewing the bowler's action with the naked eye," ICC match referee, former South African all-rounder Mike Procter, said.
"This assessment has led the team of officials to request the ICC to commission a biomechanical report into the bowler's action in accordance with the new process introduced earlier this year."
The ICC explained in a statement last night that the report would be handled under its revised bowling review process.
