Spinner Razzak suspended

Left-arm spinner Abdur Razzak has been suspended from international cricket for illegal bowling action by the International Cricket Council, Bangladesh cricket team manager Shafiqul Haq Heera told bdnews24.com in South Africa on Monday.

"Razzak has been found guilty of bowling faults and cannot bowl in any form of cricket until his action is corrected," Heera told bdnews24.com correspondent Masud Parvez in the largest South African city.

Bangladesh Cricket Board's newly-elected director Gazi Ashraf Hossain Lipu told bdnews24.com coach Salahuddin Ahmed would work with Razzak to rectify his 'faulty' action.

The former national captain said they would apply for a reassessment of the bowling action once the spinner modifies his stance.

"At this point, I really don't know the details of the report. But I am confident that I will be able correct whatever faults I have," said a gloomy Razzak in Johannesburg while packing the bag to return home with the rest of the squad.

Razzak travelled to Canberra in November for an independent analysis of his bowling action after he was reported for a suspect bowling action by Daryl Harper and Asoka de Silva during the second and final Test of the two Tests series against New Zealand at home in October.

The analysis report, revealed by the ICC on Monday, showed that the amount of elbow extension in Razzak's bowling action for both his stock delivery and the faster ball exceeded the 15 degree level of tolerance.

The elbow extension ranged from 22 to 28 degrees and averaged 25 degrees while his quicker ball showed results in the 22 to 28-degree range with an average of 24 degrees.

Lipu also said Razzak would not be eligible to bowl even in domestic cricket due to the degrees of his elbow bending, but could play as a batsman.

Umpires Daryl Harper and Asoka de Silva reported that they had concerns over the 26-year-old spinner's faster ball and hence requested the ICC to review his action.

Razzak has taken seven wickets in five test matches and claimed 110 victims in 79 one-day internationals.

Razzak was assessed by Marc Portusa, a member of the ICC panel of human movement specialists, appointed in consultation with the BCB, at the Australian Institute of Sports on Nov. 17.

This is the second time Razzak has been reported for the same offence in his career. The first instance was during an Asia Cup match against Pakistan in Colombo in 2004 in what was only his second one-day international.