Bangladesh’s experienced all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan has been suspended from bowling in all competitions that are organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). Shakib’s bowling action was reported by the umpires when he was featuring for Surrey in the County Championship match against Somerset in September.
“The Bangladesh all-rounder has been suspended after an independent assessment of his bowling action at Loughborough University,” ECB said in a statement. Shakib completed an independent assessment at Loughborough University earlier this month. ECB disclosed that during the assessment, it was found that the elbow extension in Shakib’s bowling action exceeded the 15-degree threshold as defined in the regulations.
To overturn the decision, Shakib would need to pass an independent re-assessment of his bowling action. Until then, Shakib will remain suspended from bowling in all competitions organised by the ECB. This suspension takes effect from the receipt of the independent assessment which was on December 10. The decision of suspension follows the process set out in the ECB’s Regulations for the Review of Bowlers Reported with a Suspected Illegal Bowling Action.
Shakib picked up nine scalps for Surrey in Taunton during his first appearance in county cricket since 2010-11. The 37-year-old has been involved in controversies throughout the year. It all started from his role as a Member of Parliament, which has now been overturned Awami League government in Bangladesh, following widespread protests in the nation in July and August.
He missed out on his farewell Test match against South Africa in Mirpur after protests for and against him were staged outside Dhaka. He was also sidelined from Bangladesh’s ODI squad for the series against Afghanistan and the West Indies. He has yet to play international cricket since the India tour. In the absence of Shakib, Bangladesh endured a 2-1 ODI series defeat against Afghanistan. In the recently concluded series against the West Indies, Bangladesh suffered a whitewash following a 3-0 series defeat bashing.
