SUSSEX have a potential management problem with Mushtaq Ahmed. They have artificially to hold back the leg spinner out of a sense of obligation to their seam bowlers.

At least, that was how it appeared yesterday when Mushtaq, having destroyed Durham in the first innings, was not called upon until the sixteenth over of the home side’s second effort.

As Mushtaq twirled his arms before his first ball, Durham were comfortable at 47 without loss. At the end of that over they were 47 for three. An hour later they were all out for 80. Not only was the game over within two days, it had lasted only 4½ sessions.

That suggests an extremely poor pitch, but the truth was less dramatic. It was a little underprepared, the consequence of insufficient work because of heavy rain, and gave some assistance to all bowlers — among whom Mushtaq delighted in unusual bounce and pace.

Thus, he took ten wickets in the match for 37 — in terms of runs, the best match figures of a career now in its twentieth year. Rana Naved-ul-Hasan was only one wicket behind him, the Pakistanis taking their collective wicket tally to 64, launching Sussex to their fourth successive win and to a clear lead in the first division.

That pivotal seventeenth over started with Jimmy Maher, the left-hander, defending two balls then playing a slashing cut backwards of cover to one that was turning away. On another day it would have flashed past Chris Adams, but the Sussex captain, held a superb reaction catch two-handed in front of his face, later agreeing that it was “the best catch I’ve taken off a slow bowler”. To the next ball, Gordon Muchall covered his stumps too well in playing forward and was leg-before — for a pair. Gary Pratt survived one ball and then swept at the sixth, skying to square leg. Even Durham’s hard-bitten supporters applauded Mushtaq on his return to boundary duty.

A slippery chute swept them all away after that, Naved joining in and showing just how suddenly he can raise his pace. Even the patient Jonathan Lewis gave himself up to Mushtaq with an unlikely attempt to use his feet. When Graham Onions also was stumped and Naved claimed the final wicket leg-before, each bowler had five wickets. It suggested that Sussex might indeed have needed no more than these two.

Earlier, Sussex had themselves suffered a slump of sorts as they lost eight wickets for 110. That was mainly because of Stephen Harmison suddenly discovering a bit of his old rhythm and fire. One or two balls whistled past the bat — and the chest — in a manner not often seen in the county game. His four wickets yesterday, all the result of discomforting pace, came in 11 overs and at a cost of only 19 runs. Only the tall Robin Martin-Jenkins defied him, playing some rousing strokes in getting to 49, the game’s top score.

But a performance that will hearten England was ultimately cast in the shade by Mushtaq. Durham later lamented that they were “underprepared”, having been unable to get any recent video of him. Their only consolation must be that they will not meet many like him this season.