Flintoff and Mahmood continue comebacks

Jul 31 2007 by Our Correspondent, Liverpool Daily Post

LANCASHIRE have included both Andrew Flintoff and Sajid Mahmood in the 15-man squad to face Sussex in the vital LV Championship match which begins at Aigburth this morning.

Both players took important steps on the way back from serious injuries in Sunday’s 35-run defeat of Sri Lanka A and while Lancashire’s cricket manager, Mike Watkinson, stressed that “nobody is 100% guaranteed a place”, he also acknowledged the impact Flintoff has on the rest of the Lancashire squad.

“Fred just brings a massive energy with himself,” said Watkinson. “He’s very good for the dressing room in that regard.”

In addition to bolstering Lancashire’s title challenge against opponents who edged them into the runners-up spot last year, both Flintoff and Mahmood will want to get back into the international reckoning ahead of the one-day internationals against India and the winter tours.

Mahmood’s confidence may be boosted by the fact that Aigburth is one of his favourite grounds. “I enjoy bowling here,” said the Bolton-born seamer who took five wickets against Sussex in the game at Liverpool last year. “The championship wicket is pretty good, it’s got something in it for both bowlers and batters.”

Lancashire’s record against Sussex on the ground is also impressive. In 15 visits since 1907 the southern county has yet to win and Mark Chilton’s men completed last year’s nine-wicket victory inside two days.

This season Lancashire go into the fixture on the back of the complete abandonment of the four-day match against Worcestershire – “we got fewer points than if we’d lost,” said Watkinson with dry clarity – and they currently lie in sixth place in the nine-team First Division, 40 points behind leaders Yorkshire.

But so tightly packed are the First Division teams that with seven matches left for Lancashire to play, neither the championship nor relegation can be discounted.

One man hoping for Lancashire to achieve victory on the final afternoon rather than the second evening will be the Liverpool Cricket Club’s manager, John Perry, who, among his other responsibilities, will be in charge of feeding and watering both players and spectators over the next four days.

“Everything is in place,” said Perry,.“The players ask for a lot of pasta, chicken, brown rice, salads and fruit these days but we have a large amount of corporate hospitality to look after as well and on Saturday we’ll be using the marquee to host a bicentenary ball.”

He added: “We will have no problem seating at least 3,000 people around the ground and Old Trafford have been very helpful in providing us with anything else we’ve needed.”

And then of course there has been the weather to contend with. “You have to feel for our groundsman, Terry Glover, and his staff,” said Perry. “They were here at six o’clock in the morning last week.”

So spectators who turn up at Aigburth this morning may care to reflect on the different perspectives of five different cricket men, Mike Watkinson, Andrew Flintoff, Sajid Mahmood, Terry Glover and John Perry, all of whom hope that the next four days will help them reach their goals. All the punters have to do is buy a glass of their favourite tipple and enjoy it. “The wet side is all in place,” said Perry. He means the stuff that comes out of barrels, not clouds. Play is due to start at Aigburth at 11am.

Lancashire squad: Chilton, Horton, Loye, Hodge, Law, Flintoff, Croft, Sutton, Cork, Chapple, Smith, Newby, Mahmood, Muralitharan, Keedy.