Chucker or not, Shoaib Akhtar is likely to be thrown into a Sydney grade cricket match for Mosman at Allan Border Oval next weekend.

Shoaib, 26, has agreed to terms with Australian paceman Brett Lee's club in a deal for "six or seven games," according to Mosman general manager Barry Hyland.

These are uncertain times for Shoaib.

Claiming he's paying the price for being born with a crooked elbow, Shoaib will be given just that - the elbow - if he's reported again at international level for a suspect action.

Having fallen foul of umpires twice in the last year, it will be three strikes and out for The Rawalpindi Express if he's called once more. ICC rules call for a possible 12-month ban for a player called for throwing three times in a year.

Hyland said Shoaib's eagerness to play with Mosman stemmed from his friendship with Lee and the quality of the club's bowling coaches, Peter Philpott and Barry Knight.

"Something could throw a spanner in the works but it's 80 per cent certain he'll be on the field for us against Gordon next Saturday," said Hyland.

"One of the attractions for him is that he'll have good advice from Peter and Barry close at hand, and the New South Wales staff and the AIS are not far away.

"He couldn't really be in a better place.

"The Pakistan Cricket Board has given him a clearance to play for us, now it's just a matter of getting his visa worked out."

Shoaib set the 1999 World Cup alight by bursting onto the scene with flowing black hair, arrogance behind a disarming smile and a stated ambition to crack the magical 100mph barrier.

Batsmen ducked for cover, but there were whispers: was he throwing?

His arm occasionally looked as bent as a banana and the following summer in Perth, umpires Peter Willey and Darrell Hair reported him.

Pakistan protests led to Shoaib being reprieved after a month's ban and the International Cricket Council (ICC) began reviewing the way it dealt with such cases.

Shoaib returned at full throttle but a spate of injuries kept him in the pavilion for ten months. To his horror, he was called again in March during a one-dayer in New Zealand.

He was sent to Perth to be filmed from every conceivable angle by biomechanics experts at the University of Western Australia, which declared his action was legal because he had a "hypermobile elbow joint".

"Mr Akhtar is unable to avoid hypermobility of his bowling action ... and therefore should not be regarded as throwing due to his abnormal anatomical characteristics," the university said.

That was supposed to be that.

However, Shoaib was called again while playing at the Sharjah Champions Trophy earlier this month and this time, he was ordered to work on his action with West Indian great Michael Holding.

Shoaib was expected in Sydney late next week.

© 2001 AAP