Why Shakib Al Hasan is suspended from bowling in all of ECB competitions?

Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan has been suspended from bowling by England Cricket Board (ECB) in their domestic tournaments. The decisions was made public by ECB via press release late on Friday evening. The reason behind this move is Shakib’s action was deemed suspect during a county game he played for Surrey. 

The release by ECB read “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”

According to the statement the suspension comes into effect from 10th December 2024 “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."

Shakib Al Hasan to undergo bowling test?

If former Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan has to begin bowling in England, the 37-year-old will have to undergo a bowling Test. If the authorities are happy with his action Shakib will be cleared to bowl in the county championships or other tournaments in England. 

The statement released by ECB also read “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." The statement read.

Shakib Al Hasan hasn’t played international cricket since the Kanpur Test against India in September. The 37-year-old wanted to play his last series at home but that failed to materialize. Former Bangladeshi skipper has picked 246 Test wickets and also scored over 4000 runs in the longest format of the game.