Mahmood eyes England return

Sajid Mahmood has set his sights on winning back his England place © Getty Images

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Sajid Mahmood claims being dropped by England was a blessing in disguise - but he is adamant that his time out of the side is about to come to an end.

The Lancashire pace bowler has not featured in Test cricket since the final Ashes Test in Australia last January, while his most recent one-day outing came during the ill-fated World Cup campaign almost a year ago.

But Mahmood admits his spell away from the unforgiving spotlight of international cricket has allowed him to hone his game to such an extent that he approaches the new domestic campaign having “never felt better”.

Lancashire begin their LV County Championship challenge against Surrey at the Brit Oval on Wednesday, with most players no doubt keen to expunge the memory of last year’s agonising failed run-chase in the final game, which cost them the title.

For Mahmood, though, the match represents the first stage of his mission to convince the England selectors he has put his time away from the team to good use.

Mahmood remains confident in his ability with ball in hand

“Playing international cricket, there are always eyes on you saying he’s not doing this, he’s not doing that,” Mahmood told ecb.co.uk.

“To get out of that environment last year and play county cricket for a little bit, you can just go about doing your own thing, concentrate on the things you need to do.

“You tend to get forgotten a little bit but I don’t think it’s a bad thing sometimes.

“You’ve got more time to work on different aspects of your game, and I think that helped me a lot.

“It’s the first winter I’ve had here in five years, and to look back and reflect on things - think about what I need to do to get back into that side - has been pretty healthy for me.

“I don’t want to look too forward ahead but my main aim is to get back in there as quick as I can. I’m pretty confident in my ability and I know I’ll get back into that England side.”

Mahmood, who has featured in just seven of the 24 Tests England have contested since he made his debut in 2006, benefited from a sustained spell with Lancashire last summer.

Mahmood has married his pace with much greater consistency

He impressed many observers after returning from the World Cup, and finished the summer with 30 first-class wickets from 10 games despite having his season interrupted by a double hernia operation.

Never short of pace, the 26-year-old showed signs that his accuracy was improving last year, an area of his game he continued to work on over the last six months.

“It always helps to have something different, but pace alone is not going to get me into the side,” Mahmood acknowledged.

“Obviously, there are a few things you need to get back into that England side, so over the winter I decided I needed to do this, this, this.

“That’s why I’ve been working on different aspects of my game, mainly consistency in my bowling. I’ve had six months out, to work on my consistency every day.

“I’m bowling a lot more consistently and it showed at the end of last season with Lancs and in Dubai,” he added, referring to Lancashire’s pre-season trip to the United Arab Emirates.

“I’ve done a lot of work and things are coming out really well. The best place to test is out on the field, and hopefully I can show that at the start of the season.”

The 26-year-old worked hard on his game over the winter

Mahmood also claims he is in much better shape mentally now, having admitted he was not ready to take the step up to the highest level when he went for 56 off seven overs on his ODI debut against New Zealand at the age of 22 and with just a handful of first-class games under his belt.

“I’m pretty confident and relaxed in the direction I need to be going, and where I want to get to,” said Mahmood, mirroring the manner in which he goes about his business on the field, particualrly with ball in hand.

“Sometimes you can get in there and think it’s easy, and it’s not, so you’re not prepared for it.

“My career has been a bit up and down but I’m 26 now, I know my game a lot better and I’m a lot more mentally prepared for what I need to do at international level.

“I know what my job is and I don’t think I’ve felt this good in my career.

“The thing to focus on now is getting a lot of overs under my belt for Lancashire, playing a lot of games and taking a lot of wickets, which is the most important thing.

“Hopefully if I can do that now I won’t be too far away from that England set-up again.”