Happy Birthday - Adrian Annus, Mushtaq Ahmed, Phil Bardsley

Sport360 staff 11:46 28/06/2015
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Mail
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • WhatsApp
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Adrian Annus, Mushtaq Ahmed & Phil Bardsley celebrate their birthdays on June 28.

    MUSHTAQ AHMED (45): A bubbly, chubby legspinner with googlies aplenty, Mushtaq Ahmed is styled on his hero Abdul Qadir, whom he succeeded in the Pakistan cricket team.

    He was a matchwinner with a full house of legspin variations and the current Pakistan spin bowling coach turns 45 today. At his best he was not far behind Shane Warne, but he didn’t get the in-drift and rip that makes Warne unique and he got less bounce because of a lower arm.

    Some of his most memorable performances came away from home, in England and Australia, and he played a key role in propelling Imran’s Tigers to World Cup glory, memorably snaring Graeme Hick with one of his googlies.

    Persistent knee trouble forced him to retire from first-class cricket towards the end of the 2008 season and he was quickly snapped as a coach for England before taking up his role with Pakistan.

    SERGEI SHAKHRAI (57): With partner Marina Cherkasova, the former Russian skater won silver at the 1980 Olympics.

    ADRIAN ANNUS (42): A Hungarian hammer thrower, stripped of a gold medal at the 2004 Olympics for doping.

    PHIL BARDSLEY (30): Centre-back for Stoke City and the Scotland national football team.

    DONNA VEKIC (19): Croatian tennis player who won her only singles title on the WTA tour at the Malaysian Open.

    Recommended