WEST INDIES fast bowling legend Michael Holding believes the politics of cricket is getting in the way of the development of the game.

The 52-year-old Jamaican, who took 249 wickets in 60 Test matches between 1975 and 1987, said that things happening behind the scenes are preventing some bowlers being reported for suspected illegal bowling actions.

Holding told the April issue of Cricinfo Magazine that, "politics is preventing people from doing what they should" and that the way to tackle the problem of illegal actions was "to get people in authority who have the backbone to do what is right, and not what is politically expedient."

The West Indies great is an influential and highly respected member of the International Cricket Council (ICC's) expert committee that helped develop the 15-degree level of tolerance now used for international bowlers.

Analysis

While endorsing the use of the 15-degree ruling and the detailed laboratory analysis of bowlers' actions, Holding said there was a problem with the reporting of certain players.

"Once you see something with the naked eye, you should be reporting it and having it assessed and measured properly.

"The difficulty is in the politics surrounding it, with people afraid to report certain players."

The ability of umpires to interpret potentially flawed actions is further complicated by issues like hyper-extension and adduction, which can effectively create optical illusions.

Holding said: "That's why there are problems, because the umpires will not call anybody on the field.

"I did something with Shoaib Akhtar at the end of the Test match in Karachi, when I compared him to R.P. Singh to show that both have hyperextension.

"When you look at Shoaib Akhtar and R.P. Singh from the front, you see a bent arm with one and a straight arm with the other. As I said, politics is preventing people from doing what they should."

In a wide-ranging feature interview, the former champion looked forward to the emergence of a new generation of great West Indies fast bowlers.

"It will come around, and the West Indies will develop great fast bowlers again.

"It has been proven all over the world that, unless you have a fantastic spinner, it is fast bowlers who win Test matches. And when we develop fast bowlers, we'll win Tests again," he said.

"The batting is not as bad as people make it out to be. You cannot have a team chasing a world record [418 at the Antigua Recreation Ground in 2003] against the best team in the world and say that the batting is bad. But you can't win Tests without bowlers." (PS)