ECB bans Shakib Al Hasan from bowling in their competitions

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has deemed Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan’s bowling illegal after an independent testing facility at Loughborough University returned the results. 

The former Bangladesh skipper was reported for suspect action during his one-off appearance for Surrey in September, as umpires Steve O'Shaughnessy and David Millns found the all-rounder bowling suspiciously.

"Shakib completed an independent assessment at Loughborough University earlier this month, which found that the elbow extension in his bowling action exceeded the 15-degree threshold as defined in the Regulations," stated an ECB release.

"This suspension takes effect from the receipt of the independent assessment on 10 December 2024 and follows the process set out in the ECB's Regulations for the Review of Bowlers Reported with a Suspected Illegal Bowling Action."

However, what could be problematic for Shakib is that the ban may very well be extended to international and other league cricket due to a provision under the International Cricket Council (ICC) suspect action guidelines. 

According to Section 11.3 of the ICC regulations, "In circumstances where a National Cricket Federation suspends a player from bowling in domestic cricket under its own rules, where such suspension is imposed on the basis of an analysis of the respective player conducted by an Accredited Testing Centre and in accordance with the Standard Analysis Protocols, such suspension shall be respected and enforced by the ICC in International Cricket and all National Cricket Federations in respect of domestic cricket under their jurisdiction automatically upon receipt of notice of the same, without the need for any further formality. The ICC and National Cricket Federations shall take all steps legally available to them to enforce and give effect to such decisions."

Shakib has been missing from international cricket since the Test series against India in September. Even though he wanted to end his career with the South Africa series at home, security concerns forced him to sit out of the series. The all-rounder then went on to miss the ODI series against Afghanistan in the UAE and Bangladesh's tour of the West Indies. 

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