Saqib Mahmood is looking to hit the 90mph mark during the upcoming white-ball fixtures in South Africa after feeling the benefit of Darren Gough’s short spell as an England coach.
The 22-year-old Lancastrian’s stock is on the rise, having this week been named as one of three young fast bowlers to receive a newly created England development contract and added to Eoin Morgan’s near full-strength T20 squad in place of the injured Jofra Archer.
It follows an international debut during the T20s in New Zealand in November as England rested their big guns and Mahmood, despite taking some tap and feeling down on pace when clocked in the mid-80s on the speed-gun, impressed the coaches with his attitude and skills.
This time around Mahmood is confident of showing a bit more thanks to a kindred spirit from across the Pennines in Gough, the former Yorkshire and England quick who dropped into the set-up as a consultant before the New Zealand Tests.
Mahmood said: “Pace is something that can set me apart from a lot of guys in county cricket. I was 5mph off where I wanted to be in New Zealand but it was nicer when I moved to the red-ball part of the tour and a fresh set of eyes in Goughie picked up a couple of things pretty quickly.
“I felt out of rhythm and couldn’t work out what it was. But he spotted it straight away, something to do with my run-up. As soon as I put that back into my training I felt good again and thought: ‘God, I wish someone had told me this two weeks ago.’
“Exposure to high-pressure situations can do things – you start to try harder and that can have a backwards effect. Having been through that and had time to reflect, it’s now: ‘Right, do this next time.’”
Gough’s assistance went beyond this technical tweak, as the former bowler, who played for England from 1994 to 2006, also shared his in-depth knowledge of reverse swing. Mahmood had already built a reputation for getting sideways movement with the old ball on the county circuit yet was still blown away by the advice handed down.
Mahmood said: “I get reverse when I bowl but I wouldn’t know how best to go about it before I worked with Goughie. He told me how much he practised it, which I was nowhere near.
“When you’re trying to reverse a ball back into a right-hander your mind is telling you to push the ball. But you don’t want to do that. As easy as it sounds, it does take a while to get used to it. By the back end of the trip I was doing 10 balls at the end of every session and I got pretty good.
“After that it was: ‘I can’t wait to get a ball in my hand and do this in a game’ so I’m effective from ball one of my spell, rather than getting a feel for it by my second over. I made good strides.”
As well as learning how to get reverse swing sooner by consistently landing the old ball on one side of the seam, Mahmood picked up a leg-cutter from working alongside Stuart Broad and spent the two Tests as an unused squad member studiously noting the Kiwi attack’s tactics on two flat pitches.
While still learning his trade in first-class cricket, Mahmood’s call-up for the three-match ODI series against South Africa that begins next week – the warm-ups for which take place in Paarl on Friday and Saturday – is reward for finishing as the leading wicket-taker in last year’s Royal London Cup with 28 dismissals.
So too is the England development contract he received this week along with Warwickshire’s Olly Stone and Craig Overton of Somerset. The trio will have a chunk of their county contracts paid for by the national team in exchange for their workloads being managed centrally.
England’s desire to build a stable of fast bowlers before the 2021-22 Ashes series is obvious and after the South Africa tour comes another important trip for Mahmood when he flies out to join the first-class leg of the Lions trip to Australia.
He added: “The sort of things I’ve talked about, it’s all well and good doing them in the nets but to actually do it in a game it stands for a lot more. [The next Ashes] is a long time away but if I can perform for the Lions then I can take some confidence.”
