Pakistan leg-spinner Mushtaq Ahmed has received an offer from English County Leicestershire to play for them next summer.

According to information here, the seasoned Pakistan player said from Lahore he had asked the Pakistan Cricket Board to give him clearance to accept the Leicestershire offer, as the senior team will also be touring England next summer.

Pakistan are due to play two Tests and then take part in a triangular one-day series also involving world champions Australia.

Mushtaq said he was negotiating with Leicestershire that if he signed with them it would be on the condition he will be released to play for the national team while it was touring England.

Mushtaq's last County appearance was for Somerset two years ago. In the last English championship, only one Pakistani player, Saqlain Mushtaq, appeared for a County, Surrey.

The PCB has made it clear it is are planing to offer annual contracts to its main players in which they would be paid a monthly salary during the off-season, as the PCB wanted to discourage players, particularly the senior ones, from taking up foreign domestic assignments as it put their fitness at risk and threatened to cut short their careers.

The Pakistan board is following the example of countries like South Africa and Australia, who have tried to prevent their senior players from going through the hectic English County grind every summer.

"County cricket is a good education for the younger players, but we would like to see the seniors phase themselves over the next few years so that they can serve Pakistan cricket longer," a PCB official said.