Lawson retained for second Test

Jermaine Lawson has been retained in the West Indies team for the second Test at Kandy starting Friday. After the first Test in Colombo, Lawson had been reported by the umpires for possessing a suspect action.

According to ICC rules, a bowler who is reported is allowed to play pending a written report from an independent analyst. If the analyst confirms the same, Lawson will be suspended until he rectifies his action.

Imran Khan, the West Indies team spokesman said that Lawson would remain with the squad in Sri Lanka. The team is already severely depleted by the absence of ten leading players, prominent among them Brian Lara and Ramnaresh Sarwan, due to a sponsorship dispute with the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB).

The first Test was won easily by Sri Lanka with the green West Indies batting lineup proving no match for the experience of Chaminda Vaas and Muttiah Muralitharan. Lawson was the lone bowler to trouble the home side, claiming four wickets in each innings with his pace, which at times exceeded 94 mph.

Simon Taufel and Nadeem Ghauri, the umpires in the first Test were concerned by Lawson's action when he bowled the short-pitched delivery. "The umpires had concerns with potential elbow flexation when viewing the bowler's action with the naked eye," said Mike Procter, the ICC match referee, in an earlier statement. Taufel will stand again in the Kandy Test with Tony Hill of New Zealand.

Lawson had been reported once earlier, after taking 7-78 against Australia in Antigua in 2003, but played in two Tests in England last year without any problems.