Durham are not the first side to fall under the spell of Mushtaq Ahmed. Nor will they be the last. But their coach Martyn Moxon declines to blame his side�..s two-day innings defeat by Sussex on a well-documented failure to obtain pre-match video footage of Mushtaq.

Had the proposed ECB video library been up and running, Durham could have studied their destroyers Mushtaq and Rana Naved-ul-Hasan before the game. Instead the pair took 19 wickets, with Mushtaq baffling all with his googly and top-spinner. �..It would have been useful to have a look,�.� says Moxon. �..The ECB have spent a lot of money for every county to video matches. Every game will be held in a central bank and we will all have access to it.�.�

Mushtaq, of course, has played 52 Tests and first appeared on the county scene 13 years ago, so he is hardly an unknown quantity. �..Look, we�..re not making excuses,�.� says Moxon. �..After all, we had a good look at him in the first innings and didn�..t do any better in the second.�.�
Andrew Collomosse, The Wisden Cricketer