unrest in the valley ..... Mohammad Hafeez fails test on action !

Sohag Gazi, Sunil Narine, Mohammad Hafeez, Adnan Rasool, Suryakumar Yadav and Prenelan Subrayen, Prosper Utseya, Saeed Ajmal, Kane Williamson,  Sachithra Senanayake, Shane Shillingford, Marlon Samuels – wonder what this long list ….. spinners and mostly offspinners.   Before that first something on Kashmir …. 

Newsreprots state that a  CISF jawan was injured on Sunday as militants hurled a grenade at a polling booth in Tral constituency of Pulwama district, where polling is to be held on Tuesday.  The ultras lobbed the grenade at higher secondary school, which has been designated as a polling station, at Noorpora in Tral area of south Kashmir, 35km from here, a police officer said.

In the valley, the army camp at Mahura on the Uri-Baramulla road, located close to the Line of Control, came under attack by six terrorists. The terrorists have been killed, but not before they inflicted heavy casualties. Eight army men, including a lieutenant colonel, and three policemen, lost their lives in one of the biggest attacks on security forces in recent years. The fact that army camps have been a target for militants, was highlighted last year, as they attacked an armoured unit in Sambha in Jammu. Post that attack, the security of such installations should have been made fool proof.

In between one gets to read news of anger sweeping across the valley in reported killings of youths on mistaken impressions and that army should have exercised caution while shooting at a car which did not stop despite warned twice.  In one instance, Indian army  removed the personnel alleged to be involved in the incident and moved them to the location of the enquiry headed by the deputy commander of the Rashtriya Riffles (RR) battalion.

That list at the start is of the bowlers with suspect action banned in International cricket – now comes the report that Mohammad Hafeez, the Pakistan allrounder who bowls offspin, has been suspended from bowling in international cricket after he failed a test on his action conducted at an ICC accredited centre in Loughborough, England. The analysis, an ICC statement said, found the flex in his action exceeds the 15-degree limit for all deliveries.

Hafeez had first been reported while playing for Lahore Lions during the Champions League T20, but that sanction did not apply to international cricket. He was reported again after the first Test against New Zealand in Abu Dhabi in November. He will be allowed to bowl in internationals again only once his action, post correction, is reassessed by the ICC. In the interim, he can continue to bowl in domestic cricket as per the PCB's instructions.

Good Morning and a good start to a week

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

7^th Dec 2014.