Hafeez cleared after outburst over suspect actions

LAHORE: Mohammad Hafeez will not face any penalty over his outburst in the media against the ICC’s process of reviewing suspect actions.

The Pakistan all-rounder was given the opportunity to clarify his comments to a three-member PCB disciplinary committee and he said: “My intention was not to criticise ICC protocols nor did I mention any respected cricket board in my interview.

The interview was all about my suggestions to improve the [bowling action test] standards and to remove doubts from the minds of cricket fans. Unfortunately, my comments were misinterpreted and used out of context.”

The committee, which included Director Cricket Operations Haroon Rasheed, Media Director Amjad Hussain and General Manager Salman Naseer, accepted his explanation and declared the matter resolved.

Hafeez, 37, had questioned the ICC’s methods of finding bowlers with suspect actions last month after he was reported for one, then banned and was finally cleared to bowl again. Having been through such scrutiny for a third time in his career, Hafeez suggested the relative power of cricket boards came into the picture and wondered how umpires could spot the tiniest errors in a bowler’s delivery.

He told BBC Urdu that the results of his testing in Loughborough showed that he flexed his elbow only a couple of degrees over the acceptable limit of 15. “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?”

The PCB had initially taken no interest in the remarks, but were moved to action once the ICC took notice of them.