The International Cricket Council (ICC) confirmed today that it has suspended Pakistan’s ‘King of Dusra’ Saeed Ajmal from bowling in international cricket effective immediately:
“The International Cricket Council today confirmed that an independent analysis has found the bowling action of Pakistan’s off-spinner Saeed Ajmal to be illegal and, as such, the player has been suspended from bowling in international cricket with immediate effect,” the ICC statement read, ruling him out for the Australian tour of UAE starting October 3rd.
His action was noticed during Pakistan’s tour of Sri Lanka in August. Ajmal was reported by the on-field umpires Ben Oxenford and Ian Gould to the match referee Andy Pycroft during the first Test match played in Galle on the 6th of August. The 37-year-old veteran’s bowling action was then scrutinized by the ICC sanctioned Team of Human Movement Specialists at Cricket Australia’s National Cricket Center in Brisbane on the 25th of August. The date and venue of his analysis was scheduled in consultation with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).
“The analysis revealed that all his deliveries exceeded the 15 degrees level of tolerance permitted under the regulations.”
Ajmal, who is currently dominating ODI rankings, can apply for re-assessment after he has modified his bowling action in accordance with ICC clause 2.4 of the ‘Regulations for the Review of Bowlers Reported with Suspected Illegal Bowling Actions’.
Ajmal was first suspected for the ‘dusra’ in his debut year of 2009, but was cleared after tests at the University of Western Australia in Perth. This time around, the ICC has changed its procedure for testing reported bowling actions, holding the tests in Brisbane as too many bowlers were cleared by the biomechanics in Perth.
Saeed Ajmal has played 35 Test matches for Pakistan, taking an impressive 178 wickets. His ODI stats stand at a chart topping 183 wickets from 111 matches and his 63 T20 appearances have gotten him 85 wickets.