ICC World T20: Setback for South Africa as Aaron Phangiso's bowling action proved illegal

New Delhi: South African cricket team received as major blow ahead of the ICC World T20, as Aaron Phangiso's bowling action proved illegal on Tuesday.

The left-arm bowler's tests were conducted last Friday at the University of Pretoria’s High Performance Centre, which is accredited by ICC.

And the tests revealed that all variations of Phangiso’s deliveries exceeded the 15 degrees level of tolerance permitted under the regulations.

Earlier, the spinner was reported for a suspect illegal bowling action by the match officials in last week’s Momentum One Day Cup Play-Off match between the bizhub Highveld Lions and the Warriors.

Cricket South Africa (CSA) has confirmed that Phangiso will not be considered for the first two T20 International Series against Australia. He will remain with the squad and will work alongside spin bowling coach, Claude Henderson, who will be joined by CSA’s High Performance Manager, Vinnie Barnes, in an effort to remedy his action.

Phangiso will undergo a second round of independent tests next Monday which will then determine whether he is available for selection for the last T20 against Australia and can travel with the Proteas T20 squad to India for the ICC World Twenty20.

Phangiso is part of the South African squad announced for ICC World T20, which is scheduled to start from March 8 in India.

However, CSA Chief Executive, Haroon Lorgat is still positive as he said: “The timing of this issue for Aaron and for our World T20 squad is clearly inopportune but we need to deal with it. We will work hard to remedy Aaron’s action and have him retested as soon as practically possible.”