Hafeez leaves for England to have bowling action examined

LAHORE (online): Pakistan all-rounder Muhammad Hafeez has left for England where he will have his bowling action examined.

On October 19, the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced that Hafeez had been reported for a suspect bowling action during the third ODI against Sri Lanka.

According to the spokesman of ICC, the match officials’ report, which was handed over to the Pakistan team management, cited concerns about the legality of the 37-year-old’s bowling action.

Prior to his departure, Hafeez expressed confidence that his bowling action would be cleared. According to Hafeez, he had not changed his bowling action and he had been cleared by the ICC before.

Hafeez was first suspended from bowling in December 2014. He was allowed to resume bowling in April 2015 after an independent reassessment of his bowling tests found his action to be legal. He was suspended for a second time after an independent assessment revealed that he had employed an illegal bowling action after being reported in the Galle Test v Pakistan in June 2015.

This was his second suspension within 24 months of the initial suspension in December 2014, he was suspended from bowling in international cricket for 12 months from July 2015.

On November 17, 2016, the bowler underwent a reassessment of his action at the National Cricket Centre in Brisbane and was allowed to resume bowling after his action was found to be legal.

This current report on his action, according to ICC, will be considered to be the first report and the procedure outlined in clause 4.1 of the ICC Illegal Bowling Regulations shall now apply.