Pakistan allrounder Mohammad Hafeez earlier today came out strongly on social media to dismiss reports that he had been bowling in the National T20 Cup without remedying his action.
In a tweet on the microblogging site Twitter that he posted, Hafeez said he had been working on bettering his bowling action with the help of coaches at the National Cricket Academy for the past nine months.
Hafeez, who has represented Pakistan in 44 Tests, 166 ODIs and 64 T20Is, was initially reported after the first Test against New Zealand in Abu Dhabi in November 2014 and was subsequently banned after an independent analysis found his action to be illegal.Earlier, a report by cricinfo.com claimed that the 34-year-old has not worked to correct his action since it was declared illegal by the International Cricket Council (ICC) in July.
According to the independent analysis, Hafeez’s elbow extension exceeded 15 degrees while bowling.
He was cleared to bowl in April after changing his action but the part-time off-spinner was again reported by match officials for a suspect action during Test against Sri Lanka in Galle in July this year.
Following the verdict, the sport’s governing body had handed over the allrounder a suspension of 12 months from bowling at international level. He was allowed to bowl in domestic matches, though, with permission of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).
“A bowler suspended in international cricket can bowl in domestic cricket with the permission of his home board,” an ICC official was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au.
“The logic behind this provision is to allow the home board and the player concerned the opportunity to monitor improvement in his bowling action in a match situation, and when happy, apply for reassessment.”
The PCB claims to be carefully monitoring Hafeez’s bowling action.
“It’s not like we are being lenient with him. The umpires can still report him if they suspect anything wrong in his action,” Intikhab Alam, director of domestic cricket, told Cricinfo.
“Since this ongoing tournament is being televised, it’s the best opportunity for us to monitor him closely. If he is reported at this level as well then he will be suspended for another three months.”
Hafeez won’t be able to apply for reassessment before completing his 12-month suspension.