Hafeez overjoyed as bowling action cleared by ICC
Pakistan's embattled all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez was ready to play a pivotal role with the ball after having his action cleared by the Sri Ramachandra University in India, the 34-year-old revealed on Twitter.
Hafeez said he had been bowling with the same action for the past eleven years and made corrections according to the new protocol set by the International Cricket Council (ICC).
“I would like to thank the National Cricket Academy analyst and the Pakistan Cricket Board for supporting me all the way,” Hafeez tweeted.
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Hafeez's claim was confirmed by the ICC, which also announced that Javeria Khan, Pakistan's women's team off-spinner, had also cleared her test.
“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 ICC statement read.
“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’ remodeled legal bowling actions,” it added.
The retests were performed at the Sri Ramachandra University in Chennai on 9 April.
Hafeez was reported last year in November after the first Test match against New Zealand in Abu Dhabi and had failed the initial test, which was performed later that month. Javeria was reported after the ICC Women’s World Twenty20 2010 match against Sri Lanka in St Kitts on 6 May 2010 and had failed the initial test, which was performed on 16 June 2010.