KARACHI, Aug 31: Pakistan have not given up hope of pace bowler Shabbir Ahmed playing international cricket again despite a 12-months ban for having an illegal bowling action, an official said on Thursday.

“We will be sending Shabbir to Australia soon so that he can undergo lab tests on his bowling action. The reports of which would be forwarded to the International Cricket Council (ICC),” Saleem Altaf, director of cricket operations, said.

The 30-year-old Shabbir, who has taken 51 Test wickets, was banned last December by the ICC for an illegal bowling action after being reported twice in Test matches in 2005.

The Pakistan board appealed to the ICC earlier this year to have the ban reviewed but it was rejected by an independent group of bowling experts.

“Shabbir is at present playing league cricket in England and we are in touch with him. We have already worked on his action which has shown improvement,” Saleem said.

“We are hopeful that by the time the ICC reviews his ban that his stint in Australia under bio-mechanic experts would strengthen his case for a return to international cricket.”

The PCB has to move the ICC to review Shabbir's ban even after the completion of the year's ban.

The ICC then informs member countries and umpires of the ban being lifted if experts are satisfied with any corrective measures in the pacer's action.

Pakistan have faced a lot of problems with the bowling actions of some of its players over the last five years.

In addition to Shabbir, Shoaib Akhtar, Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Hafeez, Shahid Afridi and Riaz Afridi have all had their actions reported.

Saleem also said the ICC had not allowed Pakistan to experiment with six-day Tests in the winter home series against the West Indies.

“We had made a suggestion to have six-day Tests to save lost playing hours due to weather conditions in winter. But it didn't come through,” he said.

Pakistan put forward the suggestion after losing significant playing time in a home series against England and India last winter.—Reuters