Saeed Ajmal has been given strong support from the county game for the legitimacy of the doosra which provoked debate on the first day of England’s Test series against Pakistan, according to media reports.
Steve Rhodes, the former England wicketkeeper who is now the director of cricket at Worcestershire and signed Ajmal for a short stint last summer, criticised the Sky Sports pundit Bob Willis for “sour grapes” for raising the issue of Ajmal’s action while he was taking career-best figures of seven for 55.
“I think he [Ajmal] is a wonderfully gifted spin bowler who has tremendous skills and who is on top of his game with the way he’s performing at the moment,” Rhodes told thecricketer.com. “It doesn’t surprise me that Bob Willis has said something like that. He’s paid to be controversial and almost every cricketer has been a victim of Bob at some stage, myself included.
“From my point of view, having worked with Ajmal last summer I have no problem with his action at all. The reason people question his action is because they are envious of what he can do. Different things happen when he bowls and because his action is unusual people suspect that something is wrong.
“I’m supportive of him and I’m someone that wants England to do well even though he played for us [Worcestershire]. I’m not surprised that Bob has made these comments when Ajmal has had a career-best performance, but I don’t want it to be a sour grapes situation. But if England are going to win this series they will have to get on top of Ajmal.”
Rhodes confirmed that he hopes Ajmal may return to New Road this summer, although probably only for Twenty20 cricket. Leicestershire have expressed interest in his former Pakistan team-mate Mohammad Yousuf, who seems to have dropped out of contention for the Test team.
