Pakistani spinner on top of English county cricket

With the last round of the English County Cricket Championship coming up on Thursday (September 16), and Warwickshire already having been declared the 2004 summer’s winners, Pakistan’s veteran leg-break and googly bowler Mushtaq Ahmed leads the table of top wicket-takers in first-class matches during the current season. His tally from 16 appearances is 81 wickets, taken at 26.98 runs apiece.

Last summer too, the now 34-year-old Mushtaq was the leading wicket-taker in England, bagging a total of 103 in first-class games and leading his county Sussex to an ultimate Championship victory. So far in 2004, Sussex have only been able to attain the fifth position in the Division One points table…