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ACB clears Shoaib

Pakistan and Nottinghamshire pace ace Shoaib Akhtar has been cleared of throwing by the Australian Cricket Board.

The Board's chief executive, Malcolm Speed, ended the affair with a brief telephone call to Pakistani manager Yawar Saeed on Wednesday.

Umpires Ross Emerson and Terry Prue had sent the ACB a video of a tour match between Pakistan and Western Australia last Wednesday, querying Shoaib's action. But Speed said the matter could go no further because the match was not sanctioned by the International Cricket Council, so there was no official referee. And the fact that Emerson and Prue failed to query Akhtar's action in their match report, only becoming suspicious while watching television highlights the next day, meant the ACB was unable to involve the ICC's nine-man throwing committee.

"Malcolm Speed told me he had received the tape and he had watched it," Yawar said. "He told me the tape had no official status and as far as he and I are concerned, it is all over now and we can look forward to a great Test series."

Australia's new coach John Buchanan was unhappy the issue had been raised. "I think it does more of a disservice to cricket than anything else," he said.

"It certainly disturbs the individual no matter who it is. I'm sure (Muttiah) Muralitharan would say the same thing," he said, referring to the Sri Lankan spinner whose action has been under intense scrutiny for a number of years - particularly in Australia.

Emerson sparked a furore last summer when he called Muralitharan for chucking in a one-day game against England, prompting Sri Lankan captain Arjuna Ranatunga to lead his players off the field in protest.

Agencies