The former Bangladesh captain and their premier left-arm spin all-rounder, Shakib Al Hasan, flew to South London to take part in a one-off encounter for Surrey in the recently concluded County Championship 2024, in between the end of the away Pakistan red-ball series and the start of the India trip. However, it hasn’t turned out to be a healthy result for the experienced spinner.
Shakib Al Hasan has been asked to undergo analysis of his bowling action by the England and Wales Cricket Board after being accused by the standing umpires in the contest during his appearance for Surry. The 37-year-old spinner, who turned up in the competition for a brief stint for the first time since 2010-11, claimed nine wickets for the game against Somerset in Taunton in September.
With the disturbance at home due to political reasons, the poster boy of Bangladesh agreed on a short-term deal to increase the light resources of the Surrey side when eight of their players were absent for national, including both of their frontline spinners, Dan Lawrence and Will Jacks.
ECB questions the bowling action of Shakib Al Hasan during county stint
Despite his marathon contribution with the ball, where he picked up 4/97 in 33.5 overs in the first innings followed by 5/96 in 29.3 overs in the second innings, Shakib Al Hasan wasn’t able to save his side from the remarkable 111-run defeat which held up their march towards the third consecutive championship title in a row.
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In more than 63 overs of the fixture, though he was not no-balled at any stage for throwing, it has now emerged that the two on-field umpires, Steve O’Shaughnessy and David Millns, who deemed his bowling action to be suspected.
The suspension hasn’t been against him playing the game, but the negotiations are being made for him to bowl before having further tests for an approved location, with the expectation that this will occur within the next couple of weeks.
“The matter (Shakib’s suspect bowling action) has no connection to international cricket or domestic cricket in other countries. The matter is under ECB jurisdiction and not related to ICC or other boards.” The official of the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) expressed when his attention was drawn regarding the matter, adding that if Shakib Al Hasan desires to play further domestic cricket in England, then he will have to appear in a test.
The Magura-born is going through the first instance of his bowling action coming under the question in his 17-year-old career, where he picked up 246 Test wickets at an average of 31.72 and scored 4609 runs in 130 innings at an average of 37.77 with five centuries and 31 half-centuries at a best score of 217 runs.
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In the 50-over form, Shakib Al Hasan has picked up 317 scalps in 241 innings at an average of below 30 and smashed 7570 runs in 234 innings at an average of over 37. Even in the vast 20-over career, the veteran has nailed 7438 runs in 408 innings at an average of 21.25 and bagged 492 wickets at an average of 21.49.
While playing the Kanpur Test against India, he announced that the upcoming Dhaka Test would be his farewell game in the format, but he couldn’t return home for the South Africa series due to the protests in Bangladesh against him. He hasn’t been picked for the ODI series against Afghanistan and asked for more time to recover before their trip to the Caribbean for the all-format tour.