Hafeez cleared to bowl internationally

Pakistan all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez has been cleared to bowl in international cricket again, after being forced to play as a pure batsman while waiting to see if his illegal action had been deemed acceptably changed.

Hafeez was banned for chucking late last year and was forced to miss the World Cup, though he did have a calf injury as well. He will now be able to bowl in the final ODI against Bangladesh on Wednesday.

A statement on the ICC website said: "The International Cricket Council (ICC) today confirmed that following remedial work and retests, the bowling actions of Pakistan’s Mohammad Hafeez and Javeria Khan have been found to be legal, and the players can now resume bowling in international cricket.

"In advance of any retest, a player who has been banned from bowling in international cricket, is required to identify the various types of deliveries he/she wants assessed, with a view to bowling those types of deliveries in international cricket should they be tested as legal.

"At the retests, it was revealed that the amount of elbow extensions in both the off-spinners’ bowling actions for all their deliveries bowled were within the 15-degree level of tolerance permitted under the ICC regulations for the review of bowlers reported with suspected illegal bowling actions.

"The umpires are still at liberty to report Hafeez and Javeria in the future if they believe they are displaying a suspect action and not reproducing the legal actions from the retests. To assist the umpires they have been provided with images and video footage of the two bowlers’ remodelled legal bowling actions.

"The retests were performed at the Sri Ramachandra University in Chennai on April 9."