Cricket: Mushy won't walk away from Sussex

The Pakistan Cricket Board are expected to announce a new assistant to coach Bob Woolmer before the first Test against India which starts on Friday.

Mushtaq assisted Woolmer during the one-day series against England last month and both Woolmer and captain Inzaman ul-Haq are believed to be keen to make Mushtaq's appointment permanent until the end of the 2007 World Cup.

He would be obliged to cover all series, home and away, including Pakistan's tour of England this summer.

But Robinson is convinced Mushtaq will honour his commitment to Sussex after signing a one-year extension to his current contract which will tie him to the county until the end of the 2007 season.

He said: "I spoke to Mushy on Saturday and I think working with Pakistan is something he would like to do further down the line.

"Obviously we have heard all the rumours and reports about the situation over there.

"But he is still massively up for playing for Sussex and was talking about various things to do with Sussex next season when we spoke.

"We've had no indication from anywhere to believe he won't be here in April. We've even had a letter from the Pakistan board releasing him for the whole of next season."

Shaharayar Khan, chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board, is due to meet his colleagues this week before making an announcement.

He said: "We appointed Mushtaq as a bowling consultant for the one-day series against England but we have not had a chance to finalise the appointment of an assistant coach. Obviously he is one of the candidates."

There may be some opposition to the appointment of an assistant coach. Sources in Pakistan said that Saleem Ataf, the director of cricket operations, was not in favour because it would increase the number of officials and put a strain on the budget.

Meanwhile, Robinson says that Rana Naved is likely to play in Sussex's first six Championship games before joining the Pakistan tour in the middle of June.