Mohammad Hafeez was previously barred from bowling in international events. (Source: AP)
Pakistan all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez has been issued a show-cause notice by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for questioning the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) process to identify bowlers with suspect actions. Hafeez, who had been suspended from bowling for the third time in his career after being reported for a suspect action in a series against Sri Lanka, had called for adequate guidelines and raised doubts over the entire process.
Earlier, speaking to BBC Urdu Hafeez had said, “There are so many things influencing all this (who gets called for suspect actions), it has a lot to do with the power of (some) boards and nobody wants to take them on.”
“Mostly there are soft corners and relations between people which no one wants to spoil. What I say is why not implement the rule and get every bowler in the world to go through (testing). What’s the difficulty in that?” the veteran all-rounder had added.
Hafeez had also exclaimed surprise after tests revealed that his action was only slightly above the limit of 15-degrees. Reflecting on it, Hafeez remarked, “When match umpires called me for a suspect bowling action, I went for my test only to find the flex was recorded up to 16, 17 and 18 degrees. I was surprised: how can anyone with the naked eye see flex from 15 to 16, and at times they are not able to call those whose flex is 25 and even 30-plus.”
“So I have my doubts about this calling system. This is suspicious, why are match referees or on-field umpires not able to see those flexing up to 35 but me with 16 degrees,” he further added. Hafeez has 14 days to respond to the show-cause notice issued by the Pakistan Cricket Board. Previously, Hafeez had been reported for suspected bowling actions in 2005 and 2014.