Pakistan all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez cleared to bowl after remedying action
Tuesday 21 April 2015 14:47, UK
Pakistan all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez has been cleared to resume bowling in international cricket after remedying his action.
The 34-year-old, who bowls off-spin, failed a test on his action five months ago having been reported after a Test match against New Zealand in Abu Dhabi.
But the International Cricket Council have confirmed Hafeez is now free to bowl again - along with women's counterpart Javeria Khan, whose remodelled action has been approved five years after her initial suspension.
A statement on the ICC website said: "The International Cricket Council (ICC) today confirmed that following remedial work and retests, the bowling actions of Pakistan’s Mohammad Hafeez and Javeria Khan have been found to be legal, and the players can now resume bowling in international cricket.
"In advance of any retest, a player who has been banned from bowling in international cricket, is required to identify the various types of deliveries he/she wants assessed, with a view to bowling those types of deliveries in international cricket should they be tested as legal.
"At the retests, it was revealed that the amount of elbow extensions in both the off-spinners’ bowling actions for all their deliveries bowled were within the 15-degree level of tolerance permitted under the ICC regulations for the review of bowlers reported with suspected illegal bowling actions.
"The umpires are still at liberty to report Hafeez and Javeria in the future if they believe they are displaying a suspect action and not reproducing the legal actions from the retests. To assist the umpires they have been provided with images and video footage of the two bowlers’ remodelled legal bowling actions.
"The retests were performed at the Sri Ramachandra University in Chennai on April 9."
Despite the ban on his bowling, Hafeez was hoping to win selection as a batsman in this year's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand but was kept out of the tournament by an injured calf.
Hafeez, who has 40 Test matches for Pakistan to his name, featured in Sunday's ODI defeat to Bangladesh as a specialist batsman but was dismissed for a duck having come in at number three.
