Robine Rijke cleared to bowl in international cricket

Following remedial work and a re-assessment of her bowling action, Netherlands' Robine Rijke has been cleared to resume bowling in international cricket, the ICC announced on Monday (November 1).



Fast bowler Rijke was reported by match officials for a suspect action following her team's match against the United Arab Emirates during the ICC Women's T20 World Cup Qualifier in 2018. Since those matches were not televised, Rijke's action was filmed the next day and the video given to an expert panel for assessment who then deemed it illegal.



In August 2019, an assessment of Rijke's remodeled action was conducted and again deemed illegal. "The latest assessment revealed that the majority of her deliveries exceeded the 15 degrees level of tolerance permitted under the regulations," a release from the ICC stated.



This time, the expert panel that reviewed video footage of Rijke's remodeled bowling action concluded that the elbow extension was within the 15 degree level permitted under the ICC laws.



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"Match officials may still report Rijke’s bowling action if they believe she is displaying a suspect action and not reproducing the legal action from the reassessment. To assist the Match Officials, they will be provided with the report and video footage of the bowler’s legal bowling action," the ICC's latest release read.



" rel="noopener noreferrer">Netherlands are set to feature in the ICC Women's World Cup qualifiers in Zimbabwe beginning on November 21. They will be part of Group A alongside West Indies, Sri Lanka, Ireland and Papua New Guinea.



Rijke, part of the 15-member squad that will be led by Heather Siegers, has shown promising form with the bat in recent times. She scored 100 runs in four innings through the ICC Women's T20 World Cup Europe qualifiers in Spain, including a career-best 43 against Ireland.