Ashes aim for Mahmood

Lancashire's Sajid Mahmood is determined to bowl himself back into England contention for the Ashes.

Lancashire seamer hopes greater consistency will win Test spot

Sajid Mahmood is determined to bowl himself back into Ashes contention so he can help England set the record straight Down Under this winter. The Lancashire seamer played the last of his eight Test matches in Sydney in 2007, when England were whitewashed 5-0 by Australia. Since then Mahmood, 28, has slipped down the pecking order due to the emergence of Nottinghamshire's Stuart Broad and, more recently, Middlesex's Steve Finn and Ajmal Shahzad of Yorkshire. But under Red Rose coach Peter Moores, Mahmood believes he has developed into a more potent all-round cricketer than the one that - almost four years ago to the day - bowled England to a 167-run Test victory over Pakistan at Headingley with second innings figures of 4-22. "I'm having probably the best year of my career in county cricket at the moment," said Mahmood, who has 21 County Championship wickets to his name to date. "I've made some changes to my game and am mentally stronger now too, so everything is heading in the right direction. "Competition for bowling places in the England team is pretty strong as things stand; realistically there are five or six bowlers ahead of me - and, to be fair, they are doing pretty well against Pakistan at the moment! "All I can do is stay focused on taking wickets for Lancashire. Hopefully I can take 50 before the end of the season and push hard for a place on a winter tour; if not the Ashes, then with the England Lions."

Consistency

Mahmood was selected to represent England Lions in their tri-series against West Indies A and India A earlier this summer on the strength of his performances in the first half of the summer, since when he has completed an impressive Friends Provident t20 campaign in which he claimed 23 wickets at 18.69 apiece. "I recognised that one of the main areas I needed to improve was my consistency when I'm bowling," he reflected. "I used to have some good days and then a few off days. "Over the last 18 months the better days have far outnumbered the off days and I want to keep it that way so that I make the most of playing for England if I get a chance to return to the side. "I've become a little bit more streetwise in Twenty20 cricket but my skills, including my control, have improved overall. "It's all about working hard in the nets and if you can keep honing those skills and deal with the pressure in match situations then hopefully you'll get noticed. "I've spoken to Peter quite a lot because he's been at the top and he is still one of the best coaches in the country. "It's a massive bonus to have him working with us at Lancashire and get his thoughts on what I can do to get back into the England side, most of which has worked pretty well this year."

Ready

Mahmood is spurred on by the memories of the three Tests he played against Ricky Ponting's rampant Australia side of 2006/07. He got his chance at the expense of James Anderson after England had fallen 2-0 down in the series but although he bowled consistently above 90mph in the fourth Test in Melbourne, where he returned 4-100, but was unable to ignite the beleaguered tourists.















"It was tough to play against such a good side in their own back yard so early on in my career - I only had five Tests behind me at that stage," he admitted. "I enjoyed the challenge, though, because it was a chance to judge myself against the best team in the world and discover what I need to perform at the highest level. "It gave me a massive insight into where I need to be and what I needed to work on to make it at the highest level. Looking back on it now, I think it has made me a more mentally-focused cricketer. "I am not happy playing one Test here, one Test there anymore. I want to be the first name on the England team-sheet. There's still a lot of work to be done but I feel I'm ready for it again." Sajid Mahmood, President of Chewits Thunderbolts - Lancashire's junior membership club - was visiting kids taking part in a holiday sports course organised in association with Premier Sport. For more information on courses in your area visit www.chewits.premiersport.org