Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) have announced that they will be appealing against the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) decision to ban spinner Saeed Ajmal after he was found to have an illegal bowling action.
The appeal must be filed within 14 days of Ajmal being banned and has to be submitted to an ICC-appointed Bowling Review Group (BRG). The BRG will consist of a current member of the ICC Code of Conduct Commission, an active ICC referee, a former international player, an ex-international umpire and a human movement specialist.
While the PCB understand that an unsuccessful appeal could lead to Ajmal being banned for a longer period of time, they want to find out how Ajmal’s action was tested and from what angles as well.
It is understood that the PCB has documents explaining that Ajmal has a medical condition, which occurred after an accident, that affects the movement of his elbow.
“Our experts understood that it is the doosra that may be suspected but that proved wrong because his entire action was called illegal,” PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan said. “So that’s a concern for us but we are going to appeal because we want to understand if the ICC has covered all the angles or not. An appeal obviously will benefit us because there is the chance that he may be cleared and get back straight away.
“Otherwise if the appeal is unsuccessful we are wary of the one-year ban imposed on him, but then again he can remodel his action within the period and return to cricket. We have two weeks to lodge an appeal. We have to face this with courage and go through it without panicking. We have bowlers who can fill in for Ajmal and won’t let the team miss him.”
Ajmal was reported for having a suspicious bowling action during the first Test against Sri Lanka in Galle last month.
However, this isn’t the first time Ajmal has been reported as the same thing happened in April 2009. But, the only difference was that he was cleared last time and has been banned this time.