KARACHI: Pakistan cricket authorities said yesterday that banned spinner Saeed Ajmal would receive a further two weeks of work on his illegal bowling action before being sent to England for assessment.
Ajmal, 37, was suspended in September and has been receiving the help of former Pakistan spinner Saqlain Mushtaq to correct his action.
The Pakistan Cricket Board said he has shown “significant improvement”.
“The PCB has decided to extend Saeed Ajmal’s remedial work under Saqlain by another 15 days,” the PCB said.
“After further remedial work in the next fortnight, Ajmal shall be sent over to an high-quality lab in England for testing to ascertain the exact degree of improvement in the ace off-spinner’s action,” the body added.
PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan earlier this month told AFP Ajmal’s elbow flex has now been reduced to 20 degrees after it was measured at 43 in a Brisbane lab in August.
Under International Cricket Council (ICC) rules bowlers are permitted to straighten their bowling arm up to 15 degrees, which has been established as the point at which any straightening will become visible to the naked eye.
Ajmal will only be allowed to return to action after an assessment finds the action within the allowed limits.
Saqlain earlier this month said he wanted Ajmal to return before next year’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
The ICC has been cracking down on bowlers with suspect actions, suspending five since July.
New Zealand’s Kane Williamson, Sri Lanka’s Sachitra Senanayake, Zimbabwe’s Propser Utseya and Bangladesh’s Sohag Gazi have been punished.
Bangladesh’s paceman Al-Amin Hossain was reported last month and is in danger of also being suspended.
Meanwhile, the International Cricket Council said yesterday it was concerned at the stand-off between the Indian and West Indies boards, but would not intervene unless asked by the two parties.
In a statement on its website, the world governing body said it was “closely monitoring the developments” which would be discussed at the ICC’s Executive Board meeting in Dubai on November 10.
The ICC, the statement said, is “concerned with the dispute between the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and it was closely monitoring the developments arising from the recently cancelled tour of India.
“The ICC hopes that the matter will be resolved amicably, but clarified that, unless the matter is otherwise referred to it, it does not have the power to intervene in disputes resulting from a bilateral Future Tours Program (FTP) tour.”
The ICC said it would not comment further on the matter until the board meeting.
The West Indies cut short their tour last week because of an internal pay dispute, even though the fifth one-day international, a Twenty20 match and three Tests still remained to be played.
India retaliated by freezing all future tours to the Caribbean, starting with the one in February and March 2016 to play three Tests, five one-dayers and a Twenty20 international.
The BCCI, the game’s financial powerhouse, also said it would “initiate legal proceedings” against the West Indies but gave no details. The WICB, worried it could lose out heavily on television rights if India refuses to tour, has sought a meeting with the BCCI to resolve the matter.
Agencies
