International Cricket Council has confirmed that 12 bowlers, including five from Test-playing nations, were identified for remedial work on their bowling action at the recent ICC Under-19 World Cup.
"Those players identified are not eligible for selection for any national team until an assessment by their own Board's bowling advisors confirms either the action is legal or that, although it was illegal, it has now been remedied," the ICC said in a statement on Thursday.
The ICC, however, did not name the players identified.
The actions of the players were highlighted by a three-man Bowling Action Advisory Panel (BAAP) during the tournament, which took place in Colombo earlier this year.
The BAAP in Sri Lanka was made up of former Indian pace bowler Javagal Srinath, Richard Done, the ICC's High Performance Manager, and biomechanist Marc Portus, who is a member of the ICC's panel of human movement specialists.
Members of the BAAP attended games individually and assessed bowling actions from various aspects of the ground and if an action was deemed to be suspicious by a BAAP representative or match official it was filmed wherever possible.
It is a repeat of the process that took place at the previous ICC U/19 CWC in Bangladesh in 2004. ICC General Manager - Cricket David Richardson said it is an important step towards dealing with the problem of illegal actions in international cricket.
"By identifying any player who has a flaw in their technique at junior level, there is an opportunity to address the problem before they graduate to senior international cricket," said Richardson.
