Shakib banned from bowling in ECB's events

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) suspended Bangladesh allrounder Shakib Al Hasan from bowling in all competitions under their jurisdiction, a cricket-based website Cricinfo reported on Saturday.

The decision was taken after his bowling actions was found illegal at independent testing at Loughborough University earlier this month.

Shakib's action had been called into question by the umpires in September, in his one-off appearance for Surrey in the County Championship.

To overturn the suspension, Shakib will need to pass an independent reassessment of his action - that is, his degree of elbow extension in testing will need to be below the 15-degree threshold laid out in the regulations.

The suspension is officially dated from 10 December, the date when the ECB received the results of the assessment from Loughborough University.

Shakib claimed nine wickets in that match for Surrey in Taunton in September after bowling more than 63 overs. The match was his first appearance inb county cricket since 2010-11.

Even though he was not no-balled at any stage for throwing, the on-field umpires Steve O'Shaughnessy and David Millns, subsequently deemed his bowling action to be suspect.

However, he can bowl in other events since his action was not questioned yet. Shakib who has been playing cricket for the last 20 years has experienced such for the first time and that too at the fag end of his career.

Once touted as the premier allrounder of the side, Shakib has already retired from T20 cricket. But he is yet to officially retire from ODI and Test cricket.

Of late his career has been marred by controversy due his role as a Member of Parliament in the Awami League government which was ousted, following a student-led mass protest in which several hundred civilians - mostly university students - were killed in July and August. After August 5, the day when the Awami Government was ousted, Shakib didn't return to country.