PCB body to assess Hafeez’s action

LAHORE: Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) review committee will assess the bowling action of all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez.
An official of the PCB stated that it stands behind Hafeez and is lending all its support to Hafeez to rectify his bowling action. The PCB will like to state that already a bowling action review committee has been setup where Ahsan Raza, Ali Zia, Saleem Jaffar and Sajjad Akbar are its members. The committee has been tasked to provide all possible training and assistance to rectify his bowling action at par with ICC standard. On the recommendations of the four-member committee, Hafeez will work on his action at the National Cricket Academy, and after every 10 days will undergo a test at the biomechanics lab setup in LUMS.
The committee will, therefore, analyze the reports of the tests, and will further guide Hafeez before he proceeds with the official test to ICC.The PCB refutes the news circulated in the media that it was not backing the premier all-rounder, and a story on the media is a deliberate attempt to mislead and defame the PCB.
PCB Tuesday issued a media release to reject claims that it is not backing Hafeez after he received a ban from the International Cricket Council (ICC) due to an illegal bowling action.Earlier, reports surfaced that Hafeez was asked to refer to the National Cricket Academy (NCA), Lahore to receive guidance to correct his illegal bowling action.
According to the sources, PCB was said to have not hired any expert to help Hafeez rectify the bend in his elbow, which has seen him being banned from bowling for a third time. An unofficial biomechanics test is also on the cards if Hafeez requests for it before he goes for a formal checking of his action in an ICC credited lab.Hafeez was reported during the third Sri Lanka ODI in the UAE and his biomechanics test reports showed that he had a bend of 20-22 degrees in his elbow.
In result, ICC banned him from bowling in international matches until he reappears for a test and clears it.Till then, he is allowed to bowl in domestic matches, however, after receiving prior permission from the PCB.