Saeed Ajmal's bowling action still illegal

A bio-mechanics expert has told the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) that off-spinner Saeed Ajmal still needs to work on his illegal bowling action despite modifying it “substantially” since he was suspended in September.

Ajmal flew to London last week where bio-mechanics expert Dr Mark King and his team unofficially tested Ajmal's bowling action and sent a report to the PCB.

“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,” the PCB on Saturday quoted from Dr King's report.

“It is likely that with additional work the bowler can bowl within the 15 degree limit.”

Biomechanics expert used 18 high quality cameras and followed the standard procedure of ICC's illegal action testing protocol.

Following Ajmal's suspension, the PCB hired former test offspinner Saqlain Mushtaq to work with him at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore where they were assisted by Pakistan bowling coaches Mushtaq Ahmed and Mohammad Akram.

The PCB has asked Ajmal to extend his stay in England by a week and work further with Saqlain at Leicester.

In Ajmal's absence, Pakistan lost the one-day series against Australia 3-0 in the United Arab Emirates.

However, the two inexperienced spinners Zulfiqar Babar and Yasir Shah shared 26 wickets as Pakistan secured a 2-0 victory against Michael Clarke's men in the test series.

Both Babar and Shah took a further nine wickets between them, to give Pakistan a 1-0 lead in the current three-test series against New Zealand. (Dawn)