LONDON, Sept 24: Pakistan leg-spinner Mushtaq Ahmed was hailed as the best spinner in the world after inspiring Sussex’s English County Championship triumph.Mushtaq took 13 wickets to help Sussex thrash Worcestershire on Saturday and secure their third title in five years.

The 37-year-old leg-spinner finished as Sussex’s leading wicket taker for the fifth successive year and the county’s captain Chris Adams is convinced not even Shane Warne or Muttiah Muralitharan can match him.

“One man has done more to make our success possible and I am not embarrassed to say it is Mushy – he has been absolutely fabulous,” Adams said.“Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan are great players but this guy (Mushtaq) knocks spots off them – I’d have Mushy instead of them any day of the week.”Mushtaq has often been unplayable since moving to Hove. He took 83 wickets in Sussex’s 2003 title triumph, 80 when they won again last season and 60 this year.

Adams admits Mushtaq bowled through the pain barrier for Sussex this season as he piled up 667 overs.“It was painful to watch him at the end on Saturday,” Adams said. “You could see he had nothing left - physically he had gone.

“As a captain I probably over-stepped the mark by asking him to bowl as much as he did but once again he has delivered.”—AFP