Proper Gander
Owl whisperer and secret agent
Now that I think about it, a fast bowler like Lee would have a ??? 20 km difference between his quickest ball of the over and a slower one, which would be a real difference in the mechanics / stride-length and so forth. So I’ll give the quicks some grace on this one. I can’t recall a spinner that was a serial front foot no-baller, but I will kill on sight any I find.Need a good routine for the quicks. It's more about getting the run-up right - bowlers aren't really concentrating on the line, they just know they're there and there abouts to land in the right place. Watch some videos of Bing Lee from side-on - some of these guys do have a good stride on when they release the ball. Given cricket is a game where one tiny mistake will see you in the sheds for the rest of the afternoon, an extra 5 or 10 cm might be the difference between a nick and the face of the bat, or a guy jamming down on a yorker instead of having his pegs' splayed. I tend to look at it the other way though and think you're better off giving yourself leeway and not dismissing someone with a no-ball. Don't think I've bowled a front-foot no-ball in 30 odd years of cricket.
Any spinner bowling front-foot no-balls however should be euthanized on the spot.
Given that you can't turn a game on its head with a kick-in, I don't see why it's worth even getting close to the line. I'd imagine most of the time it's just poor decision making that leads someone to step over the line, so why change the rule?
Agree though that there seems no reason to * it up in AFL. Which of course means that our defenders will somehow manage it anyway.