- Mahmood was not handed a central contract by England for the year ahead
- He has admitted he did not deserve one after struggling with his fitness
- He has impressed during England’s tour of West Indies over the past fortnight
Saqib Mahmood remains pragmatic about his lot as an England fast bowler without a central contract, conceding that he didn’t deserve one.
When the ECB announced a 29-strong list of names for 2024-25 a fortnight ago, Mahmood’s was conspicuous by its absence, but he says it was ‘not something I want to stress over too much,’ adding: ‘If I’m honest, I probably didn’t do enough to get a contract – I played two games for England in the last calendar year.’
The lack of game time was nothing new either. In the previous 12-month cycle, he played only once, the low appearance record owing to successive stress fractures dating back to the spring of 2022.
However, a 27-year-old capped across all formats has enjoyed a new lease of life on this tour, claiming career-best figures of four for 34 in the first match of a Twenty20 series that England lead 2-0. In the second, such was the amount of swing he generated, he struggled to control it, but nevertheless added another two new-ball scalps.
It coincides with Mahmood becoming a white-ball specialist in the short term at least. He heads to play T10 later this month and although he hasn’t entered the Indian Premier League auction, he with consider the 2025 Pakistan Super League. The new contract he penned with Lancashire last month is limited-overs only, so: ‘If my body doesn’t feel up to it, I don’t feel bad from my side taking a salary and then turning around and saying I don’t feel up to playing red-ball cricket.’
Saqib Mahmood has admitted he did not deserve an England central contract after missing out on one last month
He has put that disappointment behind him to star in England’s white-ball side in West Indies
Mahmood, one of the game’s most refreshing characters, got in shape for this tour by working with Chris Jordan who, despite still playing, has become something of a coaching mentor.
Jordan, the first England pace bowler to 100 wickets in T20 internationals, is a man in demand, having turned down an approach to coach England Lions’ bowlers this winter due to his own franchise commitments.
‘You have some players who, when they see somebody else come in, feel it’s almost a threat to their positions, but CJ was the complete opposite,’ said Mahmood, a man dubbed the King of Barbados by his team-mates due to the amount of time he has spent rehabbing on the island in the past two years.
‘He took me under his wing and helped me train to the level he trains at. In my eyes, he’s always been a model professional, probably the best I’ve seen in the game. To touch on his experience has been really handy.’
Meanwhile, there was a double blow for Reece Topley on Tuesday: he awoke to news that he had been fined 15% of Saturday night’s match fee by the ICC for slamming a chair against a stair rail in frustration when he was forced off the field with a knee injury; then, hobbled out of a private net session to test the problem, making it extremely unlikely he will feature in the three remaining fixtures of the tour.