Sussex, the oldest of the county cricket clubs, are also a rehab centre for broken bowlers, offering the discarded correction and ultimately redemption.
Ajmal Shahzad, who placed Sussex at the top of the first division halfway through the final day of their match against Worcestershire, with career-best bowling figures of five for 46, is the latest of them. Before him, showing the patience of Griselda, Sussex had dismantled and rebuilt Chris Jordan, who didn’t make it at Surrey but is now playing for England in the Caribbean. Before that they had remoulded the career of James Anyon. Most famously they saved the career of Mushtaq Ahmed, who showed his gratitude by becoming the pivotal figure in the county’s first championship in 2003.
Now England are hoping they can work a similar miracle with Tymal Mills, probably the fastest bowler in the country and also a left-armer, who has come to Sussex on a two-year contract after a spell at Essex.
Shahzad, 29, has played for England in all three formats, but has arrived at Hove on a three-year deal a largely unfulfilled cricketer. He had spent a career with his native Yorkshire, a loan spell with Lancashire and then a couple of seasons with Notts.
He took six wickets on his Sussex debut in the victory over Hampshire a week ago and there were six more on his home debut against Worcestershire, even though he was suffering with food poisoning for the first half of the match. He bowls at a nippy pace, his fast arm action making up for his gentle approach, and swings the ball both ways. He also reverses it, as Worcestershire’s batsmen would ruefully testify.
After bowling Sussex to their second win in as many matches, by 61 runs, he said: “I’m Yorkshire through and through and this is the place Yorkshire people go for a holiday. Brighton and Blackpool. It’s a lovely place to be.
“Mark Robinson [the Sussex cricket manager] has offered me a home here. He’s a fantastic man manager. Everyone here says the right words and you go out there full of confidence. They’ve given me TLC.
“Mark told me that I would be bowling down the hill today with the wind at my back – normally I’m bowling uphill and into the wind. This morning I looked in the mirror and felt I had this performance coming. And I owed the lads something after not being able to bowl in the first innings because of illness.”
Worcestershire, who are already fighting relegation after two straight defeats, were marginal favourites when they started the final day on 47 without loss, needing another 200 for victory. But they were bowled out for 185 as Shahzad completed what was only his third five-wicket return in the championship, each wicket celebrated with a dervish dance of delight.
In the fourth over of the morning, at 57, Steve Magoffin had Daryl Mitchell lbw with one that nipped back. And in the next over Shahzad produced a yorker to remove Richard Oliver’s off stump; 59 for two.
Then Shahzad put Sussex firmly on top with two wickets in three balls. He dismissed Alex Gidman lbw with a full delivery and then had Tom Kohler-Cadmore caught behind for a duck to give him three for 19 from the first spell.
Then, after Matt Hobden and Ashar Zaidi had taken the wickets of Alexei Kervezee and Tom Fell, he returned to uproot Gareth Andrew’s middle and off stumps before having Sachithra Senanayake caught behind. A contrary last wicket stand of 51 between Ben Cox and Charles Morris merely delayed the inevitable.
Sussex captain Ed Joyce said: “We can win the championship. Our starting eleven is as good as anybody else’s. ‘AJ’ bowled fantastically.
“He got it to swing conventionally and then reverse and was aggressive on a pitch that didn’t do much, although it was a bit up and down in bounce. And apart from his bowling he is very useful to us batting at No8.”
This was Worcestershire’s seventh defeat in eight games in Sussex. Their director of cricket Steve Rhodes said: “An hour’s cricket probably cost us the game. We lost a cluster of wickets but we can’t afford to keep doing that. We have to address it.”
