A Bollywood movie released in 2023 depicted the protagonist as a female cricketer short of an upper limb. The storyline followed her development as a bowler. In the movie, her bowling action involved her spinning around 360 degrees during the run-up before releasing the ball.
While the case discussed here is a reel life tale, a real life incident has taken place in India in 2018. Shiva Singh became an internet sensation when his peculiar bowling action caught attention. He began his run-up, spun himself 360 degrees, and then released the ball. The umpire called it a dead ball.
The Marylebone Cricket Club’s Laws of Cricket have a regulation emphasising on the bowler’s run-up. A bowler has to inform the umpire about the arm through which they would be releasing the ball, whether they would be bowling pace or spin, and if they would be approaching over or around the wicket. This information is conveyed to the batter by the umpire.
Shiva Singh did inform the umpire regarding his bowling arm and style before bowling. But another rule of the game went against him. Unfair play is a term that also includes any means through which a fielder or bowler distract the batter deliberately. This seemed to be the case in Shiva’s actions which led to the umpire call it a dead ball. Though Shiva’s actions didn’t prove too costly for his side, an unfair play decision adjourned by the umpire could also have resulted in the batting side get five penalty runs.
Indeed there exists no rule to suggest that a bowler cannot spin around 360 degrees during the run-up. But if they are to resort to this or any other unconventional tactic, it becomes a moral duty for them to relay this information to the umpire who in turn pass it on to the on-strike batter.
