Cricket-Bangladesh's Razzak reported for suspect bowling action

Bangladesh spinner Abdur Razzak has been reported for a suspect bowling action after the drawn second test against New Zealand, the International Cricket Council said on Thursday.

Umpires Daryl Harper and Asoka de Silva said they had concerns over the left-arm spinner's faster ball and decided it was appropriate that the delivery be scrutinised further after monitoring it during the two-test series won 1-0 by New Zealand.

Razzak is required to submit an independent analysis of his action by a member of the ICC's panel of human movement specialists under the authority's bowling review and can continue to play until the study in done.

Razzak will be suspended from bowling that particular delivery in international cricket with immediate effect if found to have been bowling with an illegal action.

If his action itself is proved suspect during the analysis, he faces a ban and will have to undertake remedial measures.

The 26-year-old has taken seven wickets in five test matches and has claimed 110 victims in 79 one-day internationals.

Ambani Denies Interest in Bidding for IPL Cricket Franchise

India's second-richest man, Anil Ambani, denied a claim from Indian Premier League Chairman Lalit Modi that he may bid for a franchise in the Twenty20 cricket competition.

``We categorically deny any interest as claimed by Mr. Lalit Modi,'' an Ambani spokesman said in an e-mailed statement today.

Modi said in an interview in London on Oct. 24. that Ambani ``is very interested and we will add one more team next year.''

Pakistan And West Indies not play Tests Abu Dhabi

The proposed Test series between West Indies and Pakistan, Planned originally for Abu Dhabi in November, will not be going ahead, after West Indies cited problems in their schedule. The decision leaves Pakistan with no Test cricket this year, despite repeated efforts by the board in the recent months to slot them in.

"The West Indies board have informed us that they cannot go ahead with the series," Salim Altaf, the Pakistan Cricket Board's director-general, told Cricinfo.

Had it gone ahead, the two-Test series would have taken place after the three ODIs between the two countries at the same venue in mid-November. The short amount of time left between now and then, however, turned out to be a hurdle.

"Their board said there wasn't enough time for them to negotiate touring terms for players with the WIPA (West Indies Player Association)," Altaf said. "They also have to go to New Zealand soon after, so the schedule would have been a bit hectic for them."

England gets back controversial win over Pakistan

Hair's call, made alongside West Indian umpire Billy Doctrove, was disowned by the International Cricket Council (ICC), who amended the result to a draw at a meeting of member nations in July this year.

But the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), responsible for the laws of the game since they were first drawn up in 1788, concluded at a meeting of its world cricket committee in Delhi this week that the original result - a forfeit after Pakistan's players refused to return to the field after being accused by Hair of ball tampering - should stand.

The committee comprises a range of current and former international players, including Steve Waugh, Shaun Pollock, Mike Atherton and Indian captain Anil Kumble.

At the end of their two-day meeting, chairman Tony Lewis declared the ICC had no power to change the result of the Oval Test.

"The ICC has no power under the laws of cricket to decide that results should be altered, whether it feels it 'inappropriate' or otherwise," Lewis said.

"The ICC's decision is wrong and sets a very dangerous precedent.

"Cricket is the worse for this decision."

Not long after the MCC's recommendation was announced, attention turned to Majid Khan, the former Pakistani captain, match referee and chief executive of the Pakistan Cricket Board.

Majid said the committee's decision was unanimous, for it was simply a matter of law.

"The rule states that you can't overturn a decision. The result should stay as is," he said.

When asked what the reaction would be in Pakistan, Majid said: "We'll wait and see."

The original decision gave England victory and resulted in a suspension for Hair, who was reinstated after an employment tribunal hearing in October 2007.

Pakistan's then captain, Inzamam-ul-Haq, now playing in the rebel Indian Cricket League, was banned for four one-day internationals for bringing the game into disrepute, but his team was cleared of the initial ball-tampering allegations.

The subsequent ICC ruling meant England won the four-match series 2-0 instead of 3-0, and caused former West Indian fastbowler Michael Holding to resign from the game's governing body in disgust.

Lewis said that in the realm of natural justice, the Oval match would always be a forfeit, regardless of what the ICC now chose to do.

"As far as we're concerned there is no record of any other result (but a forfeit)," he said.

"We're not reversing the ICC result, we're just saying they had no place to do that.

"We, MCC, wrote the rules in 1788 ... legally, there is absolutely no way the ICC can change the laws of the game, which it did do."