Former captain Intikhab Alam, who heads the Pakistan Cricket Board's domestic cricket operations, said on Wednesday that they are planning to have the suspended Saeed Ajmal undergo the bio-mechanic tests with a corrected bowling action before the World Cup so he is available for selection for the mega event next year.
- Suspect bowling: Action-Reaction
He revealed that the PCB would use all modern methods, including a functional bio-mechanics laboratory, to stamp out the menace of bowlers with illegal bowling actions in domestic cricket.
"What we are facing in Pakistan is a menace as far as bowlers with illegal bowling actions are concerned. The illegal bowling action committee has already identified 35 to 40 such bowlers and we are also taking the problem of ball tampering very seriously," he said.
"The committee has issued strict instructions to all umpires and match officials in domestic cricket to report any bowler with a hint of bowling action problems while anyone found tampering with the ball will be barred from the game," Alam added.
He pointed out that the problem of bowlers with illegal bowling actions which has been highlighted more so after the suspension of Ajmal is a worldwide problem and not restricted only to Pakistan.
"In Sri Lanka, they set up a committee and they found around 18 bowlers with problems," he said.
Alam also praised the efforts of the International Cricket Council, which has come down heavily on bowlers with suspect actions in international cricket in the past few months.
"It is a good thing generally because nowadays this problem is cropping up more because off-spinners are using mostly chest on actions and not side on actions. The bowler who has a side on action and his feet pivots properly on landing will never face such problems."
Alam said most young bowlers have modelled their action on the likes of Ajmal, Muttiah Muralitharan or Sunil Narine and are facing problems.
"Besides setting up the biomechanics lab at the national cricket academy in Lahore with 22 high speed cameras and related software we are also planning to import a software from Australia which can be used to detect bowlers who break the 15 degree elbow extension limit allowed by the ICC. The software includes using a wrist scanner on the bowler and computer software and cameras," Alam said.
Alam said that Ajmal's suspension is a big blow to Pakistan cricket and they are making every effort possible to get his action cleared before the World Cup.
"But the board is trying to facilitate him in every way. Because we want him to take a biomechanics test with the ICC before the World Cup," he added.
