The International Cricket Council dismissed claims appearing in the Australian media that it had drawn up a 'hit list' of bowlers to be targeted over their actions.

ICC General Manager (Cricket) David Richardson, who chaired an expert sub-committee which discussed the issue of illegal actions, said the suggestion that the panel had compiled such a list was not true.

Earlier Report Harbhajan's action under scrutiny

"To say that the ICC has a specific list of bowlers under scrutiny is completely untrue," said Richardson.

"The expert sub-committee was convened to look at the overall picture of the current regulations for dealing with potentially flawed bowling actions. It dealt with principles and processes not personalities," he was quoted as saying in a press release.

Reports appearing in the Aussie press on Tuesday claimed that the ICC sub-committee had identified seven bowlers, including India's Harbhajan Singh and Pakistan's Shoaib Akhtar, with highly suspect actions.

But Richardson said the committee had no mandate or responsibilities to report on specific players or their bowling actions and at no stage did it do so.

"It is disappointing that this report has appeared without any attempt to discuss this issue with the ICC. One phone call prior to publication could have dealt with this," he said.

The other members of the sub-committee are Aravinda de Silva, Angus Fraser, Michael Holding, Tony Lewis and Tim May. It met in October 2004 and produced a series of recommendations that will be considered by the ICC Chief Executives' Committee in February 2005.