Long-sleeved tops on the agenda?

Quick Single: India thrashes Australia

Does donning the long sleeves give some spinners in world cricket an advantage or not?

That’s a question that some may feel India’s most recent man of the match, Ravi Ashwin, has put firmly on cricket’s agenda.

Ashwin has been tinkering with his bowling action in recent times, and some were critical when he resorted to wearing a long-sleeved cricket top and bowling with what some labelled a ‘Sunil Narine-like action’ in an Asia Cup match in February.

Interestingly, while not naming anyone specifically, Ashwin’s justification this weekend for bowling with his elbows covered in that match have been picked up as a news story by various media outlets.

"I wanted to do something different. Unless you try, you won't find out what can work or not. I had never bowled in full-sleeves before. So I wanted to see how it would feel. That's point number one," Ashwin said, prior to taking on Australia on Sunday night.

"And I just wanted to see if you can get more revs on the ball if you can do a little bit with your elbow, as much as that is.

“You can get a lot of advantage with these things, so why should I lag behind if someone else is getting a competitive edge?"

Spinners who bowl with long sleeves include the West Indies’ Narine and Pakistan’s Saeed Ajmal, who uses the doosra extensively (story continues below video).

Ashwin’s comments on cricket fashion follow veteran Australian spinner Brad Hogg’s on the doosra, an off-spinner's version of the googly that requires a cocked wrist

Hogg said before the WT20 in Bangladesh that it has become unclear what is legal and what is not.

"I know it's a controversial subject, but being a spinner, that's the biggest thing that disappoints me in our game," Hogg said earlier this month.

"There's no clarity. I'm bamboozled how some blokes are getting reported for it and others aren't.

"Then they go and get tested and all of a sudden they're fine. They're not tested under the rigours of playing out in the middle, when games are on the line.

"That's when you've got to be tested. You're either throwing or you’re not."

The International Cricket Council changed its laws in 2004 to permit all bowlers to bend then straighten their arms by up to 15 degrees.

Biomechanical studies of ‘legal’ bowling actions found they actually straightened their arms by up to 12 degrees.

Hogg suggested bowlers have pushed boundaries since then, and will continue to do so unless there are greater controls in place.

"As a specialist spinner, the disappointing thing is we've probably had more people reported over the last couple of years since we've gone to 15 degrees," he said.

"More people have had to go and get their actions diagnosed.

"You've changed the rules and things have gotten worse in that aspect of the game.

"We talk about it in the change rooms. If someone's got a suspect action (and wants to bowl the doosra), we laugh about it and my advice is to just do it. Everyone else is doing it.

"The rules have been bent to help bowlers of that nature, and I think we've gone too far that we can't come back.

"Australian kids are going to have to start doing it if we want to compete on the same stage."

Hogg refused to name which tweakers are getting away with the most, noting it is a broad issue in the game and that individuals shouldn't be blamed for making the most of the laws.

"I'm not having a go at these players personally, they're all great people," he said.

"It's just I want rules to be clear and correct."

South Australia captain Johan Botha and West Indies' Shane Shillingford are two recent examples of spinners whose doosras have been banned.

Retired Pakistan off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq, credited as being the first to master the doosra, bowled the delivery legally with no suspicion of throwing.