It was just bad bowling. 

Umpires banned Banwell from bowling again in the Ballarat Cricket Association club firsts game after he unleashed three head-high full tosses against Coronet City at Western Oval. He is free to resume bowling in the Bulls’ finals campaign, which starts next week against Wendouree.

But Knowles might want to think twice about letting the left-arm medium pacer take up the ball again.

The Bulls had been finetuning their attack against City, one round before finals, trying to get more overs into players other than their headline quicks Shane Harwood and Matt McMahon, who were kept rested to a combined 13 overs.

The banning did not have any significant effect on the game – the Bulls were already well in control against Coronet City, deep in the first innings, on their way to a 301-run victory. But it did mean teammate Matt Hyden had to step in to finish the over with one ball. Hyden bowled a dot ball.

It is a rare ruling, but came into play on the international stage earlier this week when Pakistani left-arm spinner Abdur Rehman was barred from bowling in the Asia Cup match against Bangladesh before he had delivered a legal ball.

Rehman delivered three consecutive full tosses above the waist, forcing the umpire to take him off under ICC rules for one-day internationals.

Banwell’s poor bowling came in his third over and the tosses were not consecutive – he captured a wicket in the over but also conceded 18 runs, finishing with 1-28 off 2.5 overs.

Knowles was pleased to have wickets shared among his attack, bolstering depth just as the Bulls did on day one by batting strong deep into the order.

Dean Ferris was lean, taking 3-9, as was the skipper Knowles with 2-8.

McMahon, Harwood, Banwell and Tom McCarthy claimed one scalp each while cameo bowler Hyden was handy in the field, taking three catches. City number seven bat Adrian Madden made the most impact on the scoreboard with 40 runs before the City tail was wiped out clean, all for ducks.

melanie.whelan@fairfaxmedia.com.au