Mohammad Hafeez free to return to bowling in ECB competitions

The Pakistan allrounder was adjudged to have an illegal action during the T20 Blast but following tests in Lahore is free to resume

• Shah takes historic hat-trick
• Pakistan Women's T20 World Cup preview

Pakistan allrounder Mohammad Hafeez is permitted to bowl again in ECB competitions having been previously suspended for possessing an illegal action.

The 39-year-old was adjudged to have an action which did not exceed the 15-degree elbow extension threshold during last season's T20 Blast while playing for Middlesex.

An independent assessment was then conducted at Loughborough University which confirmed the findings and saw him barred from bowling.

But after tests were completed at the ICC accredited testing centre in Lahore, Hafeez's remodeled action is now deemed to be within the rules.

He is now free to bowl in ECB competitions should he agree to a future overseas deal with a county side. Hafeez played four times for Middlesex during last season's Blast, scoring 115 runs and taking two wickets.

Though suspended by the ECB since last summer, Hafeez has been permitted to bowl in other competitions. He recently earned an international recall, playing in the first two T20s against Bangladesh in Lahore in January.