This was almost 7 years ago and much work has been done by the bowler since then.
But the issue with these tests is this. Most research gains credibility on the basis of Peer Reviews ie those in the field get to scrutinise the methods and data before it can pass the credibility test. These icc tests appear to be shrouded in mystery. I’m not saying they are not legitimate but simply stating whilst they remain conducted in secret labs away from the scientific community at large there will always be doubts about their methods and technology used.
Honestly I don’t care whether Hafeez bowls or doesn’t. In a weak batting line up such as Pakistans at the fag end of his career I’m sure he will play in whatever capacity.
There was a time when simply the act of being called for chucking was enough to end a bowlers career. The process of remodelling the action was such that a returning bowler would essentially be ineffective given that he may have had the suspect action from his teenage years. So calling a bowler weeded out dodgy actions. But in Hafeez’s case it appears that he’s become adept at passing the test and has managed to get quite close to 15 degrees. The constant calling out has in effect toughened him up further infact he appears to be bowling out of a challenge to the establishment rather than any particular effectiveness for the team.
It’ll be interesting to see how much he has visited the lab at LUMS in these past few months. One thing is for sure though Pakistan simply don’t have a legal off spinner worth his salt in the national set up and this is a tragedy.
I largely agree with the process being shrouded in mystery . I think the issue is that testing a bowler's action is a lot more complicated than anyone, ICC included, bargained for . I believe Bruce Elliott pointed out that the measuring points can make a significant difference in measuring elbow flexion and there seems to be no consensus across the board as to how to measure flexion accurately.
But you have to consider the financial implications of spending considerable amount of resources into developing a comprehensive method of biomechanical testing that takes all factors into account and then have all the member boards do rigorous testing for all domestic bowlers so that they have clean actions by the time they reach the inter national level. That would mean that the boards would incur massive costs too. Also, there would be nothing stopping "cleared" bowlers from chucking in a crucial moment in a game. Umpires would be reluctant to call a bowler who had undergone such extensive testing and ICC would not get the desired outcome despite the expenditures.
To solve all that, I think ICC just decided on a testing method that largely agreed with the naked eye test with respect to elbow flexion. This meant it was cheaper for all boards as domestic umpires could call out bowlers for suspect actions with confidence and could save the boards a lot of money instead of spending on extensive testing.
So, while I agree that the current procedure is somewhat ad hoc, I think the previous one was even more so. The clues were given in Ajmal's testing when Ajmal was, reportedly,, asked to replicate his action in the match in which he was reported and he was unhappy about. This suggests to me that the UWA used to let bowlers bowl without replicating their actions in the match and so i dont think that was a particularly credible approach either.
There would be no perfect solution until we have in game testing (including in domestic)which would prevent those who are consciously chucking from pushing their luck and would help those who have genuine motor control issues rectify their actions. I believe Hafeez belongs in the former category because he's perfectly capable of bowling 10 overs with a perfect action but at the World Cup against Morgan and Stokes, he resorted to his old action .
There is nothing tragic about Pakistan not having an effective, legal off spinner for ODIs. No team does. In the last 30 years , I can only think of Saqi who was atleast effective in the 90's and maybe Swann for a couple of years. . Off spin is just irrelevant in white ball cricket now. In tests , it is still a fairly effective form of bowling with the likes of Swann, Lyon, Ashwin having success in recent years and Pakistan do have a bright prospect in Sajid Khan.
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