County umpires flag Shakib al Hasan's bowling action as "suspect": Reports

A county umpire reportedly raised a query on the legality of Shakib Al Hasan's bowling action to the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) during his stint with Surrey in the recently-concluded county season.

Under investigation in a political murder case in Bangladesh, Shakib traveled to England for one game against Somerset in September, even as the rest of his team went home to celebrate whitewashing Pakistan 2-0. He picked up nine wickets from 60 overs in the game, which Somerset won by 111 runs.

According to The Daily Star, David Millns and Steve O'Shaughnessy were the on-field umpires for the game, with one of them likely reporting the all-rounder.

"In the county match, an on-field umpire reported that he felt the action was suspect. If Shakib wants to further play domestic cricket in England, he will have to appear in a test," The Daily Star quoted a BCB official.

"If he is cleared, he will be able to play domestic cricket in England. The matter has no connection to international cricket or domestic cricket in other countries. The matter is under ECB jurisdiction and not related to ICC or other boards," he added.

The report said Shakib was informed about the issue but the ECB hadn't directly communicated it to the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) by Monday.

Shakib was not included in Bangladesh's squad for Afghanistan ODIs

Shakib hasn't played any cricket since Bangladesh toured India for two Tests after his county stint. He was supposed to play a 'farewell' Test against South Africa in Mirpur but had to pull out due to security reasons arising after students in Bangladesh protested his involvement in the series.

On Friday, Bangladesh announced their squad for a three-ODI series against Afghanistan which begins on Wednesday but didn't include Shakib in the side. BCB chief Faruque Ahmed said in a press conference that the all-rounder hadn't got any practice after missing out on the South Africa test and needed to 'regroup'.