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Eddie Chikamhi Senior Sports Reporter

THE Zimbabwe Under-19 cricket team were dealt a blow at the ICC Under-19 Men’s Cricket World Cup underway in the West Indies yesterday after one of their top players, Victor Chirwa, was suspended by the International Cricket Council for illegal bowling action.

The 18-year-old left arm spinner featured in the opening two matches against Papua New Guinea and Pakistan and will not be available when the youth side face Afghanistan in a key Group C match tomorrow.

The ICC confirmed the development yesterday in a media statement.

“Zimbabwe’s Victor Chirwa has been suspended from bowling in international cricket with immediate effect after the Event Panel of the ICC Under-19 Men’s Cricket World Cup confirmed that he uses an illegal bowling action. The Event Panel comprised members of the ICC Panel of Human Movement Specialists.

“Chirwa was reported by the match officials during Zimbabwe’s match against Papua New Guinea on Saturday. Video footage of him bowling in the event was shared with the Event Panel for review.

“The Event Panel concluded that Chirwa employed an illegal bowling action and, as such, in accordance with Article 6.7 of the regulations, he is immediately suspended from bowling in international cricket,” said the ICC statement. Chirwa has two wickets to his name at this tournament. He had decent bowling figures of 2/11 in the opening match against PNG in Port of Spain, where he also contributed 35 runs with the bat. Zimbabwe went on to win the match by a massive 228 runs.

He, however, found the going tough in the second match against two-time champions Pakistan when he finished with 0-73 as Zimbabwe lost by 115 runs. Chirwa went into the tournament as one of Zimbabwe’s best bowlers after bagging 12 wickets in six warm-up games. Unfortunately, this group has not had enough exposure to youth international cricket before the World Cup.

Zimbabwe currently sit third in Group C. They are tied on two points apiece with pace-setters Pakistan and Afghanistan but are disadvantaged by the overall net run rate.

Pakistan and Afghanistan were set to play against each other yesterday.

Zimbabwe Under-19 coach Prosper Utseya told The Herald they are looking forward to finishing as one of the top two teams and qualify for the Super League stage. The bottom two drop to contest in the less glamorous Plate competition. Utseya said his charges have shown positive development since they arrived in the West Indies last month for the competition. “These guys have not played any form of international cricket before the tournament so they are getting to play the likes of Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan for the first time in their careers.

“As a coach, I always try to encourage them to be focused and not to get nervous when you face any opponent.

“When we played against Bangladesh in the warm-up games, we were bowled out quite cheaply and we struggled with their batters. But you could see the improvements in the games that followed.

“So we are hoping to continue growing in confidence, especially after playing Pakistan and getting to feel what it is like to face those big sides.