PCB asks Saeed Ajmal to work with Saqlain Mushtaq in England

Karachi: The Pakistan Cricket Board has asked suspended off-spinner Saeed Ajmal to remain in England to work further on improving his bowling action after he failed to clear an informal biomechanics test held last week.

"Saeed (Ajmal) has been told to work further with Saqlain Mushtaq on his bowling action after which we will send him for another informal test," a reliable source in the PCB told PTI today.

He said that although Ajmal had corrected his action a lot in the informal test, but he was still straightening his arm beyond the 15 degrees elbow extension allowed by the ICC.

"In the informal test Saeed's elbow extension was close to 20 to 18 degrees so his remodelled action has helped him a lot already," the source said.

When Ajmal underwent the biomechanic test under ICC instructions at Brisbane in August his arm extension was around 40 to 43 degrees after which he was suspended from bowling in international cricket by the sport's world governing body.

Since then he has worked hard under the guidance of Saqlain to remodel his bowling action at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore.

The source said that biomechanics expert Dr Mark King, who supervised the informal test, had informed the PCB in a report that Ajmal still needs to work on his illegal bowling action despite modifying it "substantially" since he was suspended in September.

King and his team conducted the biomechanic test with the help of 18 cameras.

King wrote in his report that there was substantial improvement in Ajmal's bowling action from his official test in August but he still needs to work out some issues.

"There is clearly a substantial improvement from the previous official test where the average elbow extension was 40 degrees but the amount of elbow extension is still over the 15 degree limit," King said in his report.

The PCB source said that the board had given a short-term contract to Saqlain for a week to work with Ajmal in Leicestershire.