Saeed Ajmal to start remedial work

Saeed Ajmal, whose entire bowling arsenal was found to be illegal will start working on his bowling action from next week, Pakistan Cricket Board's (PCB) Chairman has said.

The 36-year old off-spinner was suspended from bowling in international cricket by the International Cricket Council (ICC) with immediate effect after all his deliveries were found to be illegal. He was earlier reported during the first Test of the recently concluded 2-Test series against Sri Lanka in Galle.

Ajmal has now decided against going for an appeal against the decision and will instead work on modifying his action before applying for a re-assessment before cricket's apex body. "We have requested him to come next week and hopefully he will appear before the committee to start remedial work," Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Shaharyar Khan said

"We had two options in Ajmal's case. One [was] to appeal against the decision, but after the ICC rules no longer take medical evidence into account, we see slim chances in an appeal," he added.

Ajmal's action was tested by the ICC's accredited team of Human Movement Specialists using the National Cricket Centre in Brisbane on August 25th and the independent analysis found that all his deliveries exceeded the 15-degree limit of tolerance permitted under the regulations.

Ajmal was previously reported for illegal action in 2009. He was then tested at the bio-mechanics lab of the University of Western Australia in Perth and was completely cleared. Interestingly, the test had found all his three deliveries, the doosra, the off-break, as well as the quicker ball, to be perfectly within the legal limits of tolerance as prescribed by the ICC.

The PCB has said that it aims to improve Ajmal's bowling action within a period of three to six weeks and has requested champion off-spinner, Saqlain Mushtaq, for guidance over the matter. Saqlain, who is widely regarded as the inventor of the controversial 'doosra' is set to arrive in Lahore from England on September 22.

"The PCB has contacted me to help out Saeed and I am willing to do that," Saqlain told the Geo Super channel. "He (Ajmal) is a gutsy character and can adjust his action accordingly. Saeed has problems right now with his action as he appears to be going beyond the 15-degrees elbow extension allowed by the ICC," he added.

The Pakistan board has already started the hunt for Ajmal's replacement for their series against Australia at the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in October. The two teams are scheduled to play a one -off T20I, three ODIs and two Tests during the series.