From: hasan@vxcrna.cern.ch 
Subject: Re: Mushtaq sets for Somerset
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41    
Organization: European Organization for Nuclear Research, CERN
Date: Fri, 14 Aug 1992 08:46:00 GMT

In article <14AUG199208271446@vxcrna.cern.ch>, hasan@vxcrna.cern.ch writes...
>According to The Guardian, Mushtaq Ahmad, the other tormentor of the English
>batsmen apart from the two Ws, has signed a three-year contract with Somerset
>that runs from next season. Many counties -- including Worcestershire and
>Leicestershire -- were keenly vying for the leg spinner and Somerset's director
>of cricket Bob Cottam said: "I am absolutely delighted. I've got the man I
>wanted". He said that he had been tracking the player for three weeks and 
>added:" I've really done my homework. He has performed at the highest level in
>the test arena and in pressure situations; he is a proven wicket-taker".
> 
>Mushtaq's best figures this season have so far been against Somerset; five for
>46 in one innings and eight for 124 for the match. He is the highest wicket-
>taker for the Pakistani tourists with 63 wickets at 24.61 in 15 matches, 
>including a test return of 15 wickets at 31.66 apiece. He had earlier proved
>that he could bowl in limited-overs game by taking 16 wickets at 19.43 in the
>World Cup.
> 
>So he would be the fifth Pakistani to be playing county cricket currently. Now
>apart from Salim Malik, all the rest -- WA, WY, AJ and now MA -- are bowlers.
>Contrast it with the situation in the late seventies when eight or nine Pakis-
>tanis were playing county cricket and Sarfaraz Nawaz was the only bowler among
>them -- the rest were either batsmen or all rounders. This reflects a total
>transformation in the strength of the Pakistani side with interesting conse-
>quences.
> 
>Another interesting thing -- and also somewhat puzzling to me -- is that while
>the great Abdul Qadir performed so well in the Pakitan's tours of '82 and '87,
>he was to my knowledge never sought by any English county (now I may me wrong
>in this, so please correct me if I am ), at least not in the manner in which
>MA has been. Coupled with this was the inclusion of Ian Salisbury in the English
>side this season. Does this mean that the English cricket is seeing a revival
>of leg-break-googly bowling after an almost total neglect of well over 20 years.
>Any comments.
> 
>	Hasan
> 
Now somewhat recklessly, may I add, that if such a revival takes place (though
leg-break-googly bowling has never been very popular in England) Abdul Qadir,
and to a lesser extent, Mushtaq would be responsible for that. Throughout the
eighties, which was again a decade of fast bowlers, AQ was the most success-
ful spinner. He took more than 200 wickets and performed consistently at all
levels of international cricket.

But most importantly, IMHO, AQ and MA have turned the conventional wisdom
about the leggies (attacking but uneconomical, unprediactable and unsuitable
for long spells etc.) upside down. They have proved them to be a most important
asset for a team in both test cricket and ODI. AQ, for a time was the most
potent weapon that Pakistan had, notwithstanding that Imran used to be playing
as well. With India introducing Siva, and more sensationally, Hirwani in
recent years (first time after the retirement of Chandra) and Austrailia also
going for a leggie more consistently, it may herald a golden era for this
kind of bowlers who are almost as fascinating to watch as a fiery fast bowler.

	-Hasan