England shelved their plan to use a "secret delivery" to flummox Indian batsmen in the ODI series as the management feared the ICC could ban it for violating the spirit of the game, a UK daily has reported. The Daily Telegraph said in its report: "England's bowlers have been preparing to unveil a new delivery which the England management claim to be legal, although they expect will be quickly banned.

"The plan was to use it either in the current ODI series or in the return series in India next month, but may now be prevented by the outcry it could cause." The daily said that England's bowlers even experimented bowling it during private nets at the Riverside ground in Chester-le-Street.

The paper said the experiment involved "the bowler tossing the ball from his left hand to his right hand just before release."

Although the English team management doesn't consider such a delivery to be illegal, it feels it would face ICC action.

"The ICC will move quickly to ban this experiment if they introduce it ... And trying this delivery during India's tour of England, so soon after the Ian Bell incident at Trent Bridge, would be another test of diplomatic relations between the two most powerful boards...," the newspaper said.

This new delivery may be banned under Law 42.4 which states: "It is unfair for any fielder to deliberately attempt to distract the striker while he is preparing to receive or receiving a delivery."