NEWS
OTHER SPORTS
DIARY
PEOPLE
MATCH REPORTS
SLIDE SHOW
ARCHIVES

Shabbir Ahmed remains under chucking cloud

The International Cricket Council's Technical Committee on Friday put Pakistan selectors in a bit of a quandary when it decided to keep pace bowler Shabbir Ahmed under continued scrutiny.

The Pakistan selectors were considering sending the young tearaway to Pakistan, when the technical committee threw this particular spanner in the works.

Chief selector Naushad Ali, and Shabbir Ahmed himself, had telephonic chats with the committee members. Who, after viewing a 20 minute footage of the bowler in action, suggested that while there was marked improvement, more work needed to be done before Ahmed could be cleared for first class and international duty.

The tall (six foot four) 23-year-old, with an action vaguely reminiscent of Joel Garner, was the latest in Pakistan's fast-bowling assembly line. He attracted notice with his pace against the West Indies during the three-match series in Toronto in September.

Unfortunately for him, not all the notice that came his way was positive. Whispers that his action was suspect reached a logical climax when match referee Peter Van Der Merwe reported his suspicions to the ICC, leading to an investigation by the technical committee.

The committee informed the PCB that Ahmed's action was suspect and needed improvement. This in turn meant that Shabbir, named for the tour of Australia, had to be dropped from the squad. The latest review tape was taken after the PCB put the youngster through extended nets with a view to correcting deficiencies in his action.

Meanwhile, though Australian umpires Ross Emerson and Terry Prue had questioned the action of fellow Pakistan quick Shoaib Akthar, the ICC technical committee has not thus far found reason to call the bowler's action into question.

Akthar is on record as saying he would like to go over the 100-kmph glass ceiling during the ongoing tour of Australia. Various past players, including the likes of Ian Chappell and Dennis Lillee, have in sections of the Australian media suggested that Akthar would be better advised to concentrate on the team's needs, rather than personal glory -- a view, interestingly, that was also voiced, ahead of the Test series, by Australian spearhead Glenn McGrath.