Just after getting cleared to bowl again in international matches last month, Mohammad Hafeez had landed himself in another problem by questioning ICC’s process of reporting suspect bowling actions. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had then issued a show-cause notice for his remarks against the international governing body of cricket.

The Pakistan all-rounder submitted his reply to the notice on May 23 and a three-member disciplinary committee is said to have accepted Hafeez’s clarification; hence, the 37-year-old has been let-off by the PCB.

“My intention was not criticise ICC protocols nor did I mention any respected cricket board in my interview. The interview was all about my suggestions to improve the [Bowling action tests] standards and to remove doubts if any from minds of fans of cricket. Unfortunately my comments were misinterpreted and used out of context,” Hafeez had clarified after being issued a notice by the board.

Hafeez underwent a re-assessment of his bowling action at the Loughborough University, in April. The reports showed that his elbow-extension amount while bowling is within the 15-degree limitation.

“There are so many things influencing [who gets called for suspect actions], it has a lot to do with the power of [some] boards and nobody wants to take them on,” Hafeez had told BBC Urdu following the test results.

“Mostly there are soft corners and relations between people which no one wants to spoil. What I say is why not implement the rule and get every bowler in the world to go through [the testing process]. What is the difficulty in that?”

“So I have my doubts about this [system]. This is suspicious, why are match referees or on-field umpires not able to see those flexing up to 35 but me with 16 degrees?” he had asked.

Hafeez was first suspended from bowling in December 2014 and following remedial work on his bowling action, he was re-assessed and permitted to resume bowling in April 2015. Two months later, he was once again suspended from bowling, for 12 months. He was then re-assessed and permitted to resume bowling in November 2016.