Mushtaq's India trip shelved

ABU DHABI // England have been forced to shelve plans to use Mushtaq Ahmed as a coach with their Performance Programme squad in India, because of work permit regulations. The former Pakistan and Sussex leg-spinner has been working as an ambassador for Etisalat during the recent series between Pakistan and the West Indies in Abu Dhabi, which ended yesterday.

He had been recruited by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) at the end of last season to help with their spin development programme. It was planned to send him to India to work with the Performance Programme squad - which includes leading international Monty Panesar - before he joined the Test party. The ECB have failed to secure a work permit for the 38-year-old, although that is not expected to affect his contract of working 100 days a year with England's young spinners.

The ECB have also acted to reassure the Dubai-based International Cricket Council (ICC) about their concerns over Mushtaq's links to match-fixing several years ago and his role as a fringe member of the Lahore Badshahs squad in the unofficial Indian Cricket League (ICL) tournament. They intend to submit a plan to measure and monitor Mushtaq's performance to cricket's world governing body, and have stated that he will come under the same terms of reference as any other member of the management staff - who are all required to abide by the ICC's Code of Conduct.

Mushtaq, 38, last played for Pakistan in 2003. He ended his first-class career this season, and severed ties with the ICL last month. * With agencies