Brian Lara says he is more dangerous than Shane Warne. Mark Taylor rated him as the best leg-spinner he ever faced. He is full of fun and he knows how to take the knocks and get back up again. He's not Saqlain Mushatq... he's Mushtaq Ahmed.

Although he is currently out of favour with the Pakistan selectors he still has plenty to say about Pakistani cricket and his passion for leg-spin bowling.

Cricket365's Anthony Pascoe caught up with 'Mushie' at his new County home at Sussex...

1. You have previously spent time with Somerset and Surrey. Are you looking forward to another season of county cricket? 
Yes, I am very excited about joining Sussex for a whole season, it will be a big challenge. There is a big difference between playing a few games for a side and being able to spend an entire season with a team. It really gives you the chance to work at your game, plan ahead and work with the rest of the guys in terms of goals and motivation. It is a whole different body language and I am really looking forward to it. 

2. You haven't played Test cricket since the end of 2000, do you still hope to play for Pakistan again? 
Yes, I want to play for Pakistan again and to be honest I think I should be playing for them now. I was the leading wicket-taker in the last Pakistan domestic season and I don't know why I am not being selected.

It is well known that spinners get better with age and I am only just past thirty. I have a lot of experience and I am fit and keen to play for my country. I think I am probably in the best physical shape I have ever been in so I will just keep on playing and hoping, because I never give up.
 
3. Can Pakistan win the upcoming series against Australia? 
To be honest I don't think they can, but having said that you never know how Pakistan are going to play. There are so many players in the side who are capable of destroying any team single-handedly. Australia are obviously the favourites and they are a very good team, but a win for Pakistan is definitely possible.

Results are always hard to predict and sometimes you just have to put your faith into Gods hands and hope for the best.
 
4. In your opinion is the Pakistan team a united one? There seems to be a lot of unhappiness in the camp at the moment - Yousef Youhana was sent home from Kenya and Wasim Akram and Saeed Anwar have withdrawn from the side to face Australia… 
Rumours can be very destructive and make things appear much worse than they are. I don't really think there are any problems with the team itself, I think the problems lie more with management.

The management's attitude filters down to the team and affects them. It is really important that the bosses respect the players and look after them properly. If the management doesn't perform properly then you can't expect the team to shine.
 
5. Despite South African skipper Hansie Cronje being the man implicated in the middle of the match-fixing scandal, Pakistan seem to have emerged from the whole affair worse than South Africa. Why is this? 
I think one of the biggest problems with this is the press. The South African media are good while the Pakistan press just like to spread rumours. Even when there is no evidence about things they still like to write about rumours.

If there are allegations the media need to back them up with facts. It can't be difficult to find evidence, but in Pakistan even when no evidence is found the media still write their stories.

Journalists need to develop good relationships with the players. It is important. They need to write good, positive stuff in a responsible manner and in that way create role-models and positive feelings about Pakistan cricket that will help build the game in our country, not break it down.
 
6. Bowling leg-spin is one of the most difficult skills in cricket. When you first bowled did the ball come out of the back of your hand naturally or were you coached? 
I used to play hockey before I turned to cricket and I only really started to play cricket because my older brother was in the school team. When I started to play my brother suggested that because of my height I should try to bowl leg-spin, so I guess I was told to bowl from the back of my hand.

Having said that though it did come naturally and I used to spend a lot of time watching Abdul Qadir bowling on television. I was quite good at reading the ball from his hand and I tried hard to bowl like him. I have always believed that the best coach in the world is yourself and I spent a lot of time working in the nets, trying to do what Qadir did, thinking about the game and practicing hard. I also asked God to help me and that was important.
 
7. After the series in Australia in 95/96, Mark Taylor described you as the best leg-spinner he had ever faced. Who do you rate as the best leggie you have ever played with or against? 
I mentioned Abdul Qadir already and he was an absolute magician. Obviously Shane Warne is also very impressive. In that 1995/96 series I ended up taking more wickets than he did - and that was in Australia - so that was very pleasing for me. Shane Warne is a truly great bowler and I think one of the reasons he has been so successful is because he knows his team and his management are behind him all the time. When he struggles he is backed-up and that allows him to keep doing his thing because he knows his place in the side is not threatened.

I must add that after that series Brian Lara, said he would rather face Shane Warne than me, because he said my variations were harder to read than Shane's. For me that was a huge honour to have the best batsman in the world saying he would prefer to face Warne.
 
8. So when you meet up with guys like Shane do you discuss bowling ideas and pointers with each other? 
Yes we do. Almost every time I play against other leggie's we talk about bowling. It is good to share tricks and just talk about the art.

9. Leg-spin bowlers are wicket takers, but they do tend to more expensive than off-spinners. What advice would you give to young spinners who are just starting out with their careers? 
Young leg-spinners must get used to being hit for lot of runs because as long as they keep bowling leggie's they are going to take wickets as well. Leg-spinners are going to get hammered sometimes but when things start turning and the ball is coming out right it is possible for a leggie to single-handedly win the match. Bowlers ned to stick with it because fortunes can turn very quickly. You can be give away 100 runs in ten overs and then hit back with five wickets for 20 runs. It is about sticking at it and not giving up. Four days of a test with no results and them wrapping it up for your side, that is what it is all about… 

10. Many people seem to confuse you with Pakistan off-spinner Saqlain Mushatq… Does this happen a lot and does it annoy you? 
Yes, that happens a lot. I guess we just have difficult names in general. I mean his name ends with Mushatq and mine starts that way and we are both spin bowlers as well. It happens to both of us and we are used to it by now. I even had a distant relative get it wrong once!