Pakistani fast man Shoaib Akhtar was not especially satisfied with his career best One-Day International figures achieved today against New Zealand while cricket officials who queried his bowling action may be interested in Akhtar's post-match claim that he had never changed his bowling action.

The man labelled the Rawalpindi Express might better be described as the Pakistani jet pilot. His extreme pace is more out of this world than a plodding railway engine.

While the game was his first international game in 11 months, and he was still working up to his fastest pace, there was no doubt that his speed was a little quicker than anything the hapless Kiwis have struck at home this summer.

But in taking his five for 19, including the five wickets in the space of 11 balls, many of them bowled around the wicket to the plethora of left-handers in the middle and lower order, he seemed to have stepped into more controversy.

Akhtar was reported to the International Cricket Council last summer in Australia by international match referee John Reid. However, he was reintroduced with haste by the ICC, a decision which surprised many critics.

At the post-match press conference Akhtar said: "I never ever, that's the thing I really wanted to say to the whole world, I never changed my action after my banning. I stuck with my basics."

He said that when he was banned last year he had gone to Perth, and not home to Pakistan as was stated at the time, because he had a groin problem.

"I was pretty confident the ban was going to be lifted on me pretty soon and I got back on track again."

Akhtar said he believed that his action was fine. He had played in the last World Cup where several top people saw him play and there were no queries about his bowling action. John Reid had also been a match referee for Pakistan games over the previous three years.

He added that he wouldn't say that Reid's action in asking that his action be reviewed was racist but he didn't think it was a good decision to make it.

"It's never ever been wrong and I've never ever changed my action," he said.

He also didn't think there was anything wrong with Australian fast bowler Brett Lee's action and when it had been queried he rang him up to support him.

"Guys like us, Brett Lee and myself like to charge in and people really want to see us.

"The guys are good for the game, let them play please," he said. For all that however, there was a difference in Ahktar's action when he bowled around the wicket, and it was his dismissals of left-handers Jacob Oram, Daniel Vettori and James Franklin that caused most comment at the ground.

Akhtar did say he was a little scared going into the game because he didn't want to go all out. He was a little stiff in his legs after the game, and it hadn't been that easy for him but he had good backing from the team.

Stephen Fleming, the New Zealand captain, had no comment to make on the matter.

He said there were review processes to deal with issues in the game and New Zealand had enough troubles just trying to see the ball and would leave any cricket issues up to others to look after.

"We trust the processes in place will take care of those sort of situations," he said.

© CricInfo