UAE spinner reported for suspect bowling action

Fayyaz Ahmed must now undergo testing and, if necessary, remedial action

United Arab Emirates bowler Fayyaz Ahmed has been reported during the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2009 in South Africa on suspicion of having an illegal bowling action.

The left-arm slow bowler was reported after the UAE v Canada match on 15 April at Stan Friedman Oval, Krugersdorp, by on-field umpires Rod Tucker and Gary Baxter of the Emirates International Panel of ICC Umpires as well as third umpire Karl Hurter, also of the Emirates International Panel.

In their official report, the umpires stated: “(We) are of the opinion that Fayyaz Ahmed, left-arm orthodox bowler, bowls with a suspect action which is accentuated when bowling the doosra. We therefore request that the necessary action be instituted to deal with this matter.”

A copy of the report has been sent to the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB).

Where a bowler is “called” or reported by the umpires due to a suspected illegal action in an ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier match, the policy requires the relevant member board – in this case the ECB – to instigate an assessment of the bowler’s action immediately and to arrange for the undertaking of any remedial action required by the player concerned.

While this does not preclude the player from playing, in the absence of a report that says his action is legal, if he does so he runs the risk of being called should the umpires deem his action to be in contravention of Law 24.3 (“Definition of a fair delivery – the arm”).

The ICC has asked the ECB to make arrangements for the assessment of Fayyaz’s bowling action as soon as possible. As soon as the assessment has been completed, the ECB must formally report back to the ICC as to what the results of the tests were and what action has been taken.

The findings of the ECB in relation to Fayyaz’s bowling action will then be added to the ICC’s database, which is made available to all match officials for international cricket matches.