Samuels has been “automatically suspended from bowling in international cricket for a 12-month period”

Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo

West Indies all-rounder Marlon Samuels has been banned from bowling for the next 12 months after his action was found to be illegal for the second time since December 2013.

Samuels was reported for a suspect action during the first Test against Sri Lanka in Galle in October and subsequently had his action tested in Brisbane, where it was revealed that his elbow extension exceeded the 15-degree limit. As a result, Samuels will not be able to get his action re-tested until the 12-month ban has concluded.

“As this report constitutes the player’s second suspension within a two-year period, he is now automatically suspended from bowling in international cricket for a 12-month period,” an ICC release stated. “Samuels is entitled to appeal any procedural aspect of the Independent Assessment that has led to this automatic suspension. However, only after the expiry of this one-year period will he be entitled to approach the ICC for a re-assessment of his bowling action.”

Samuels is the third bowler to be handed a 12-month ban from bowling in 2015 after Pakistan’s Mohammad Hafeez and the West Indies’ Sunil Narine.