The PCB has asked the ICC to set a date for offspin-bowling allrounder Mohammad Hafeez to have his action officially reassessed. The test is likely to be in the first week of February, with the PCB hoping to have him cleared to bowl in time for the World Cup that begins on February 14.
While Hafeez is part of Pakistan’s World Cup squad, he will not be allowed to bowl in the tournament unless cleared, having been suspended from bowling in international cricket in December. Pakistan are already without the services of Saeed Ajmal for the World Cup, who has also been banned.
Hafeez’s action was tested at an ICC accredited centre in Loughborough, England. The analysis, an ICC statement said, found the flex in his action to exceed the 15-degree limit for all deliveries. Later, he was sent to Chennai to undergo remedial work and unofficial tests on his bowling action at Sri Ramachandra University. He had failed one of those unofficial tests, in January; he bowled 11 deliveries in that test, and of those the flex in six deliveries was above the 15-degree limit.
If he fails the official test, the ICC’s Bowling Review Group (BRG) will specify a period during which Hafeez will not be entitled to approach the ICC for reassessment.
Hafeez was first reported while playing for Lahore Lions during the Champions League T20 in September, but that sanction did not apply to international cricket. He was reported again after the first Test against New Zealand in Abu Dhabi in November.
Ajmal, who is not part of the World Cup squad, will undergo official ICC testing in Chennai on January 24.
