KARACHI, 9 November 2004 — Pakistani all-rounder Shoaib Malik will travel to Australia ahead of a tour starting next month to work with experts on his potentially flawed bowling action, the cricket board said yesterday.
The Pakistan Cricket Board also announced the establishment of a panel to find ways to address an apparent increase in illegal bowling actions among Pakistani cricketers at all levels.
Malik’s bowling has already been reported as suspect twice and he faces a ban of one year if it is reported for a third time in the next 12 months. The latest complaint arose from the final last month between victors Pakistan and Sri Lanka at the end of a series that also involved Zimbabwe. Malik was reported to the International Cricket Council (ICC).
A three-member panel has reviewed footage from the match in Lahore and told the Pakistan Cricket Board it did not see a major problem with the 22-year-old’s action, board general manager Zakir Khan told AFP.
Nonetheless ICC rules made it mandatory that he consult with a human movement expert, Khan said.
“Malik will fly a few days before Pakistan’s tour of Australia and will undergo biomechanical checks on his potentially flawed bowling action with human movement expert professor Bruce Elliott,” Khan said.
The cricket board was also required to send the ICC by Dec. 16 a comprehensive report on measures taken to correct Malik’s action, he said.
The Pakistan Cricket Board announced in a statement meanwhile that it had set up a five-member panel to stop the spread of illegal bowling actions.
“The PCB is increasingly concerned at the growth of illegal bowling actions in Pakistan and in order to control these formed a five-member panel,” it said.
Former first class player Fakiruddin Aizaz will head the panel which also includes Test pacer Aaqib Javed, Test off-spinner Ejaz Faqih, former international all-rounder Iqbal Sikander and former Test umpire Khizer Hayat.
The board this year also directed umpires at domestic matches to report illegal bowling actions so they could be corrected at an early stage. Besides Malik, Pakistan’s express pacer Shoaib Akhtar’s bowling has been reported thrice, that of pacer Shabbir Ahmed twice and of leg-spinner Shahid Afridi once.
Malik, who has played seven Tests and 84 one-day internationals, was first reported in 2002.
Pakistan’s tour of Australia from December to February includes a three-match Test series against the hosts and a tri-nation one-day series, also involving the West Indies.
Lehmann Wants to Bat On for Australia
In Adelaide, Australia, senior batsman Darren Lehmann said yesterday he has no intention of giving up his place in the Australian side and wants to continue his Test career.
The 34-year-old left-hander arrived home yesterday from India, where a hamstring injury forced him out of the fourth Test in Bombay.
Lehmann said he had fully recovered and was available for the first Test against New Zealand, starting in Brisbane on Nov. 18.
Lehmann last month said he was willing to stand aside in favor of outstanding young talent Michael Clarke.
Yesterday he said it was up to the national selectors to pick the team.
“I said in India that if it was the case that Michael Clarke got the nod ahead of me, I would accept that and I’d have no problems with that,” Lehmann told reporters.
“That hasn’t changed. If he gets selected in the side ahead of me that’s fine by me.
“So it really just depends on what they want. I’m hoping to play a lot more Test cricket still but there comes a time for change as well.”
In India Lehmann scored just 132 runs at an average of 26 with a top score of 70 in Nagpur while Clarke topped the batting and bowling averages for Australia.
