last chance for Ajmal, Hafeez to clear ICC action test, date announced

LAHROE: last chance for banned Pakistani off-spinner Saeed Ajmal and all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez to clear the bowling action test, as International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced the schedule for action review.

According to reports, ICC announced to take action review of banned off-spinner Saeed Ajmal and Mohammad Hafeez on 8th January 2015.

This is the last opportunity for Hafeez and Ajmal to clear the test before World Cup 2015.

However the unofficial bowling action test of Mohammad Hafeez will be held on January 3rd.

Saeed Ajmal who was banned in August this year will have the last chance to clear the teat. If he couldn’t then he will be banned for one year.

Saqlain Mushtaq said that Hafeez bowling action has the minor bend which will be corrected in a few days unlike Ajmal’s elbow bend which is taking time to correct.

Mohammad Hafeez was reported during the recent test series against New Zealand. His action  was tested in London during the series and was banned from bowling in international cricket before 2nd Twenty 20.

Saqlain said that Ajmal has a minor defect of three to four degrees which will be corrected soon.

Earlier, Saeed Ajmal had been banned from bowling in the International Cricket during the Pakistan Tour of Sri Lanka this year.

He had given an unofficial test in London but unable to clear. His weapon Doosra was reported out of limit.

Saeed Ajmal, Mohammad Hafeez to visit Chennai for informal tests

KARACHI: Pakistan's suspended off-spinners Saeed Ajmal and Mohammad Hafeez have decided to go for informal tests to the ICC accredited bowling centre in Chennai.

According to a senior official of the Pakistan Cricket Board ( PCB), both the players had themselves asked the board to send them to Chennai.

"Saeed and Hafeez apparently were not comfortable with the set-up in Brisbane and Loughborough and wanted to go to Chennai. Their travel plans are now final and we have got all clearances from the Indian High Commission and our foreign ministry," the official told the media.

He said both players would leave for Chennai in two to three days' time.

"They will be appearing in informal tests in Chennai and if they clear those tests than we will send them for the official ICC tests soon," he added.

Pakistan will be announcing its final World Cup squad on January 7 and asked if there was enough time for the board to get the bowlers cleared for the tournament, the official said they had already asked the ICC to give dates for the official tests.

"We are doing our best to facilitate both of them and we are keen to see their bowling actions cleared before the World Cup. I think we will complete all this process in two weeks time," he stated.

Hafeez was suspended from bowling in international cricket last month by the ICC after failing a bowling test soon after he was reported for his action by match officials after the first Test against New Zealand.

Ajmal is also suspended from bowling in international cricket since September by the ICC.

Both have been named in Pakistan's preliminary World Cup squad of 30 players.

Ajmal appeared in two one-day matches against Kenya last week and bowled a total of 12 overs and later said he felt confident bowling with his remodeled action.

nz clinch series as pak fall on 207

new Zealand capped a hard-fought tour of the UAE with a commanding win in the final match to take the ODI series against Pakistan 3-2. The Tests and T20 internationals had been tied 1-1 each. New Zealand had trailed in both those contests, as they did twice in the one-dayers before resiliently rebounding with victories.

Kane Williamson led with the bat again, along with Ross Taylor, as New Zealand posted a stiff total on a slow pitch and the fast bowler Matt Henry blew away the Pakistan top order on his way to a maiden international five-wicket haul. Pakistan had come within a couple of hits of chasing down 300 in the fourth ODI but they fell well short of the target of 276 as their poor record in series-deciders over the past decade continued.
Pakistan's top order had failed to fire throughout the series barring the third match. The trend continued as the express duo of Henry and Adam Milne troubled the batsmen again. Nasir Jamshed failed to review a poor leg-before decision fifth ball of the chase. Younis Khan was caught behind down the leg side trying to work a short ball fine.
Williamson held back his key fast bowlers and introduced himself and Anton Devcich to share the fifth bowler's quota. Forget putting pressure on the part-timers, Pakistan managed 1 for 40 from the 11 overs they bowled. The first boundary of the innings came in the 11th over, and the second arrived only in the 25th.
After Asad Shafiq went leg-before to Devcich, Shehzad found a stable partner in Haris Sohail and two forged a steady 69-run partnership. Shehzad had been reprieved twice, once on 17 when New Zealand did not review a plumb lbw and then on 43 when the keeper Luke Ronchi dropped him, Devcich the bowler to suffer both times. Shehzad gradually found his touch and was timing the ball well as he moved past his fifty, only to gift his wicket away with 169 needed from 22 overs. Henry returned and bowled it short. Shehzad mis-hit it straight to midwicket.

Kane Williamson was at it again with a 97 © AFP

Umar Akmal too found midwicket soon off Nathan McCullum and though Sohail carried on and made 65, the asking-rate demanded too much of him. Henry settled it with the wickets of Sarfraz Ahmed and Shahid Afridi as Pakistan were dismissed in the 44th over.
Williamson bowled five of those for only 18 runs after winning the toss and making his eighth fifty-plus score in ten ODI innings to finish with 346 runs for the series, the most on either side. Ross Taylor accelerated to hit an unbeaten 88 as New Zealand posted 275. The total was 24 short of what New Zealand had barely defended in the fourth ODI but the pitch also played slower than it had two days ago.
Afridi capped a strong all-round series for a return of 1 for 33 but Pakistan conceded 85 in the last ten overs. New Zealand followed the same policy they had on Wednesday with Williamson leading the build-up through the middle overs.
Williamson first partnered with Dean Brownlie for a 66-run stand after Martin Guptill fell early to Mohammad Irfan's steep bounce. Afridi and Sohail kept Williamson and Taylor in check, carrying on from the initial discipline of Irfan and Anwar Ali. Afridi especially was hard to get away with his quickish deliveries on a tight line mixed up with flighted ones.
New Zealand went without a boundary for ten overs at the start and then for 12 overs in the middle stages. Both times, Williamson broke the drought. The lofted shot over extra cover against the spinners came easily to him again.
Taylor was not comfortable at the start and took his time, his first boundary coming only off his 47th delivery, a tickle to fine leg for four. He did not get stuck, though, and drove Irfan down the ground to reach his fifty off 67 deliveries as New Zealand took 35 off the batting Powerplay.
New Zealand were well placed going into the slog with Williamson and Taylor having added 100-plus. Afridi had a couple of overs left, though, and he removed Williamson in his last, the New Zealand captain top-edging a sweep to the wicketkeeper to depart three short of his hundred. Taylor brought out his slog-sweep and connected a few boundaries off Zulfiqar Babar to make sure New Zealand finished strongly. Henry and his fellow bowlers did the rest

pak nz early momentum before world cup 2015

worldcup 2015

Big picture

Monday's game against New Zealand will be the first ODI Pakistan will play since their one-run defeat to Australia in Abu Dhabi in October, a loss that exposed their brittle batting and a sense of uncertainty in their leadership.

The leadership question was resolved by Misbah-ul-Haq's return to form in the Tests against Australia and the team's dominant victories. The question of their batting strength, however, was raised again in the second T20 against New Zealand, where Pakistan failed to chase down 145 on a slow track in Dubai.

Unlike New Zealand, who have another home series against Sri Lanka, this five-match ODI series will be the best chance Pakistan have to complete their team combination jigsaw. Younis Khan was recalled to the ODI side on the back of a stupendous run of form in the Tests and Pakistan will need more of that in the series. Their attack has been boosted by the return of Umar Gul, but with Mohammad Hafeez suspended from bowling and restricted to playing as a specialist batsman, Pakistan will need to work out their bowling combination with a focus on spin.

Between Monday's game and the World Cup, New Zealand will play 14 ODIs, of which nine will be at home. Kane Williamson has already stressed that his side is keen on gaining experience, especially match awareness in different situations.

Twice already on the tour, New Zealand have fought from being a game down to drawing level in the series. Having got accustomed to the pitches in the UAE, they will be looking at grabbing a lead in the ODI series, building on the momentum from their T20 win.

Form guide

(most recent first, completed matches only)
Pakistan LLLLLL
New Zealand LLWWT

	Ross Taylor will play his first ODI since January 2014 © Getty Images Enlarge

In the spotlight

Since the ODIs against India in January 2014, New Zealand have played just one series - against South Africa in October. Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor missed it due to injuries and will aim to get their World Cup preparations underway in earnest. Both batsmen have already scored centuries on this tour. Williamson's 192 in the Sharjah Test was pivotal to the side's series-levelling win while Taylor had scored a vital hundred in the drawn Dubai Test.

After he was reported for a suspect action, Mohammad Hafeez had said that he did not rate himself as a bowler and was focused on his career as an international batsman. His suspension as a bowler, though, could affect Pakistan's preparations for the World Cup, according to team manager Moin Khan, and there will be some scrutiny on Hafeez as he walks out to bat. His recent form has been good with a couple of hundreds against New Zealand in the Tests.

Team news

Umar Gul took 2 for 24 on his return to international cricket in the second T20 and could play his first ODI since March 2014.

Pakistan (probable) 1 Ahmed Shehzad, 2 Mohammad Hafeez, 3 Sarfraz Ahmed (wk) , 4 Younis Khan, 5 Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), 6 Umar Akmal, 7 Shahid Afridi, 8 Umar Gul, 9 Wahab Riaz, 10 Zulfiqar Babar, 11 Mohammad Irfan

Martin Guptill has been ruled out of the match due to a hamstring niggle which also kept him out of the second T20. New Zealand have not yet taken a call on Corey Anderson's selection, after the allrounder was struck on the helmet during the first T20.

New Zealand (probable) 1 Anton Devcich, 2 Kane Williamson (capt), 3 Dean Brownlie, 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Tom Latham, 6 Luke Ronchi (wk), 7 James Neesham, 8 Daniel Vettori, 9 Adam Milne/Nathan McCullum, 10 and 11 Matt Henry/Kyle Mills/Mitchell McClenaghan

Pitch and conditions

The ODI series will start at the venue of the two T20s. The surface for the second game on Friday was slower but the surface for the ODIs could end up being more batting-friendly. Dew was not much of an issue during the second T20.

Stats and trivia

• The last time Pakistan suffered five or more successive ODI defeats was between November 2009 and June 2010, when they lost nine games on the trot
• New Zealand have won 10 out of 32 games they have played in the UAE. All but three of the games were played in Sharjah.
• The last ODI between the two sides was played during the 2011 World Cup. Ross Taylor's unbeaten century helped set up a 110-run win for New Zealand in the game in Pallekele

Quotes

"The thinking is that now that we have him here, we give him full confidence, because even as a senior you require backing."
Misbah-ul-Haq on how Pakistan will handle Younis Khan, who had lashed out at the selectors after being dropped for the Australia ODIs

"It's not so much an audition, it's very much about workloads as well. There's so much cricket before the World Cup so we're very conscious of that but we also want to put out our strongest side."
Kane Williamson talks up the big picture for New Zealand

worldcup 2015 .

hafeez suspended from bowling

 

Mohammad Hafeez, the Pakistan allrounder who bowls offspin, has been suspended from bowling in international cricket after he failed a test on his action conducted at an ICC accredited centre in Loughborough, England. The analysis, an ICC statement said, found the flex in his action exceeds the 15-degree limit for all deliveries.

Hafeez had first been reported while playing for Lahore Lions during the Champions League T20, but that sanction did not apply to international cricket. He was reported again after the first Test against New Zealand in Abu Dhabi in November.

He will be allowed to bowl in internationals again only once his action, post correction, is reassessed by the ICC. In the interim, he can continue to bowl in domestic cricket as per the PCB's instructions. According to ICC regulations, if a player who has been reassessed and cleared is reported a second time, within two years of the date of commencement of the first suspension, he or she will then receive a minimum suspension of one year, and can apply once more for reassessment only after sitting out a year.

Several international offspinners, including Sri Lanka's Sachithra Senanayake, New Zealand's Kane Williamson, Zimbabwe's Prosper Utseya and Bangladesh's Sohag Gazi have received suspensions for illegal actions this year. Hafeez is the second Pakistan offspinner to be suspended in the last three months, Saeed Ajmal being the other. Remodelling of Ajmal's action is well underway at the moment, with positive signs at two unofficial reassessments - his doosra remains the only ball delivered illegally, his second unofficial test in Loughborough determined, and he is hopeful of being ready in time to play the 2015 World Cup in February-March.

The immediate effect of Hafeez's suspension will be felt when Pakistan take on New Zealand in a five-match ODI series, in the UAE, from Monday. However, after he was reported in November, Hafeez had said he will not let the scrutiny on his bowling get to him too much, saying he had never viewed himself as much of bowler and would continue to focus on his batting instead. He had also said there should not be a "pick-and-choose" method to identify bowlers with suspect actions in international cricket and all bowlers should undergo testing.