Sajid Mahmood fully focused on helping Lancashire win domestic honours

May 31 2008 by Peter Guy, Liverpool Daily Post

LANCASHIRE paceman Sajid Mahmood insists he is fully focused on helping the county win domestic honours, despite an eye-catching spell in front on England selector Geoff Miller at Headingley.

Mahmood put in the day’s best bowling performance, including a threatening spell with the first new ball, to return four for 61 and will not have escaped Miller’s attention.

Mahmood, a former Test and World Cup player for his country, has apparently fallen off Peter Moores’ radar in both the long and short forms of the game but he offers pace and bounce that not all of England’s current options can match.

But the 26-year-old is determined not to take his eye off the ball for the Red Rose.

“I saw him (Miller) in the morning but I didn’t really know if he was watching,” said Mahmood.

“Obviously it’s good to perform in front of an England selector but the only thing I can do is keep bowling well and getting getting wickets for Lancashire.

“If I can keep doing that, it’s down to the selectors.”

There is a feeling that Moores’ England is a less closed shop than in Duncan Fletcher’s final years and county performances appear to be his chosen barometer.

But Mahmood maintains he is not too concerned about when or where he may receive a recall.

He said: “There are opportunities all the time if you perform well. But the one thing I can do is perform for Lancashire; I can’t concentrate on whether doors are opening or where I might get in.

“If I take wickets for my county hopefully the selectors can recognise that and hopefully give me a call.”

Yorkshire worked hard after being installed by visiting skipper Luke Sutton under dark skies, though he was never likely to do anything different after disastrously choosing to bat first in Wednesday’s Friends Provident Trophy clash here.

Jacques Rudolph (66) and the entertaining Gerard Brophy (59) were the top scorers in a total of 306 for seven, but both men – as well as Anthony McGrath (45) and Adil Rashid (43) – were guilty of falling when set.

Former Proteas star Rudolph tipped the impressive Brophy to gatecrash the merry-go-round of English wicketkeepers, whose latest turn has seen Tim Ambrose anointed as one-day gloveman over Phil Mustard.

“Gerard is obviously a quality player and I think there has been talk in the past about him playing for England,” he said.

“He’s destructive, up front and he’s dangerous. I haven’t followed the England squad selections up close but I think he has a chance in the near future. He’s quite experienced and I think he should get his chance.”