Pakistan adopt hardline approach to bowling actions

The Pakistan Cricket Board has announced that it will take a hardline approach with any bowler whose action is called into question before they reach the top level.

"We are taking this very seriously," Saleem Altaf, the PCB's director of cricket operations, told Reuters. "We want to identify bowlers who have flawed actions before they graduate to the top."

New measures, being implemented from next week, means that any bowler reported by umpires would immediately be suspended and made to undergo a rehabilitation process before being allowed to resume

Pakistan have had several bowlers cited by the ICC - Shoaib Akhtar, Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Hafeez and Shahid Afridi have all been reported - and Shabbir Ahmed was recently banned for 12 months.

The PCB's move came after it was revealed that as many as 50 bowlers were reported to them by umpires during domestic matches in 2005-06. "These bowlers have played at different levels including junior competitions and first class tournaments," Altaf explained.