Sussex fast bowler James Kirtley has been cleared to continue his career.

The ECB will confirm in a statement today that Kirtley's re-modelled action is fine after they conducted exhaustive tests and video analysis earlier this month at Loughborough University.

Kirtley, 31, was joining the rest of the Sussex squad at Hove today for pre-season training.

The all-clear ends a fraught five months for Kirtley whose career was on the line after he was twice reported for an illegal action in Championship matches against Hampshire and Warwickshire last season.

He was banned and ordered to undertake remedial action for the second time in his career. Kirtley was first reported whilst making his England debut in a one-day international in Zimbabwe in 2001 but was subsequently cleared.

Since then the degree of movement allowed in a delivery arm has been increased by 50 per cent but bowlers all over the world face more intense scrutiny than they have done in the past.

The most obvious change to Kirtley's new-look action is that he has cut his run-up by a third. But there will be no loss of speed when the ball leaves his hand although it will be delivered from a slightly lower trajectory.

The news is a massive boost to both the player and the Sussex management with the new season less than a month away.

Kirtley admitted earlier this month that there were times during the winter when he wondered whether his career was over, particularly after he was unofficially tested in December and he failed the inspection of his action.

But he has worked dilligently since then with cricket manager Mark Robinson and Sussex coaches Mark Davis and Keith Greenfield to fine-tune a new look and totally legal action.

A Sussex insider said: "It's fantastic news. It has been six months of hard work for James and everyone at the county is really pleased.

"The timing is awesome because it's happened on the day the squad report back and it will give everyone a huge lift.

"It's been a cloud hanging over the club for ages but now James can look forward to the new season although his action will have to be carefully monitored.

"It's been a real ordeal for him but his mental toughness and strength of character has really shone through."