ICC: no bowling review letter received

The International Cricket Council today dismissed media reports indicating that it had received a letter from the India cricket team asking it to review the action of Pakistan bowler Shoaib Akhtar.

ICC General Manager - Cricket David Richardson provided a reminder of the process for the review of suspected illegal bowling actions.

"The ICC's bowling review process is very clear," said Mr Richardson.

"It is a two-stage process, Stage One of which demands that the match officials send a report to the ICC if they are concerned that a particular bowler has an action that requires further examination.

"It is only ever an umpire or a referee that can file a report not a team, national board or the ICC. I would like to clarify that the ICC has not received a letter from the BCCI relating to Shoaib Akhtar's bowling action."

The two-stage process ensures that all bowlers are treated equally by the ICC. All bowlers' actions are monitored in every game and the match officials are empowered to make a report where they have concerns.

Over the past 12 months four bowlers have been reported to the ICC with potentially flawed actions.

Jermaine Lawson (West Indies), Sanwar Hossain (Bangladesh), Shabbir Ahmed (Pakistan) and Muttiah Muralitharan (Sri Lanka) have undergone Stage One of the process after concerns were identified by members of the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Umpires and Referees.

Lawson is available for selection for the West Indies after undergoing remedial work and recovering from a series of injuries that have kept him out of the game, Ahmed is back and played in Pakistan's ODI series against India after making some technical adjustments to his action and Hossain has played again for Bangladesh since his action was reported.

Muralitharan's action was reported on 28 March and he is still undergoing the review process with a report due to be provided to the ICC by Sri Lanka Cricket within a six week timeframe.

For further information:

Brendan McClements
General Manager - Corporate Affairs
Ph + 44 (0) 20 7266 1818
Mob + 44 (0) 7786 194974