Pakistan appoint Mushtaq Ahmed as spin coach

The Pakistan Cricket Board on Monday appointed Mushtaq Ahmed asits new spin bowling coach after the World Cup winner lost the role for England. The43-year-old former leg-spinner signed a two-year contract with immediate effect,according to a statement by the board.He had coached England for six years until a reshuffle by new head coach PeterMoores saw him replaced by Peter Such.Ahmed claimed 185 wickets in Test matches and 161 in one-day internationals. Hewas a mainstay of Pakistan's formidable bowling line-up in the 1990s that includedpace legends Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis, who was last week appointed headcoach.The diminutive spinner also played a key role in Pakistan's World Cup victory in1992 in tandem with Akram.Cast out from the national team later on in his career, he turned his attention toEnglish county cricket where he took more than 100 wickets for Sussex for fivesuccessive seasons and helped them win the championship in 2003, 2006 and 2007. Ahmed has had two previous stints as Pakistan's spin coach, in 2005 and 2007,despite controversy over his past. He was among several players censured in a match-fixing report compiled by JudgeMalik Qayyum in 2000.The report said that he had been in touch with bookmakers and recommended thathe be banned from positions of responsibility within the team and board.The Qayyum commission banned former captain Salim Malik and paceman AtaurRehman for two years and fined six others.In 2010 the-then International Cricket Council chief Haroon Lorgat revealed to theGuardian that he had warned the England Cricket Board to perform due diligence before appointing Ahmed.Pakistan are also expected soon to appoint former Zimbabwean opener GrantFlower as their batting coach, and fellow Zimbabwean Richard Halsall as fieldingand strength trainer. Source: AFP