Former Pakistan and Sussex maestro Mushtaq Ahmed has been appointed as England's new spin bowling coach.
Former Pakistan leg-spinner to guide England's slow bowlers
Former Pakistan and Sussex leg-spinner Mushtaq Ahmed has been appointed as England's new spin bowling coach.
The recently-retired 38-year-old has been hired on a consultancy basis by the England and Wales Cricket Board to work with both the Test and one-day squads, along with the Performance Programme.
Mushtaq was the driving force behind Sussex's recent success in the County Championship with three titles coming during his six-year spell, but he announced his retirement in August due to a knee injury.
Former England spin coach and current ECB performance director David Parsons was delighted with the appointment of such an experienced campaigner.
Excited
"We are very excited that a bowler of Mushtaq's standing within the game has decided to join our team of specialist coaches based at the National Cricket Performance Centre at Loughborough," said Parsons.
"He will have a role to play at all levels of the game.
"His primary task will be to mentor our leading spin bowlers in the Test, one-day and performance squads but we also believe he can help encourage youngsters at the grassroots of the game to take up and learn the art of spin-bowling."
ECB managing director Hugh Morris says Mushtaq's wealth of experience will help guide the current and next generation of England spinners.
"It's critical that we nurture and develop the next generation of England spin bowlers using the expertise and knowledge of former players such as Mushtaq," said Morris.
"Spin has been integral to the success of the world's best cricket teams and we are keen to ensure that there is a constant flow of spin-bowling talent into the England set-up."
Mushtaq broke the 100-wicket mark in 2003 to help Sussex win a first ever County Championship, and he then repeated the feat in 2006 as Sussex again took the title - before helping in their successful defence 12 months later.
Overall Mushtaq ended his career with 185 wickets in 52 Tests and 161 in 144 ODIs for Pakistan, while he ended his first-class career with 1,407 scalps from 309 matches.
He already has some coaching experience having worked as an assistant during Bob Woolmer's time in charge of Pakistan.
