Mahmood seeks to cement spot

Sajid Mahmood

Sajid Mahmood is ready to sacrifice his natural pace to try to find the consistency required to establish himself as a member of England’s World Cup attack.

The 25-year-old Lancashire seamer finally made his World Cup bow in Saturday’s victory over Kenya, which sealed England’s progression into the Super Eight stage of the tournament.

Mahmood bowled within himself to claim 1-39 from his nine overs, having been preferred to Liam Plunkett, James Anderson’s new ball partner for the opening two Group C matches.

Instead of blasting out the Kenya batsmen with his explosive speed, Mahmood preferred to use his variations of pace to upset them and impressed both captain Michael Vaughan and coach Duncan Fletcher with his control.

It is a tactic which he may continue to use on the slow Caribbean pitches in the coming weeks as England battle with the other qualifiers to finish in the top four and seal a place in the semi-finals.

“I wasn’t worried about the pace I was bowling against Kenya - I was just concentrating on consistency and trying my variations on these type of wickets,” Mahmood said.

“But as I get more consistent with my action and more confident in the areas I am bowling in, I’m pretty sure I can speed it up a bit more.”

Shaun Tait earned high praise from Mahmood © Getty Images

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Mahmood believes pace can still be a key weapon and singled out Australian fast bowler Shaun Tait, who bowled effectively against South Africa on Saturday, as someone who has been able to extract extra speed from the otherwise slow wickets.

“Pace is still a key thing,” Mahmood stressed. “Shaun Tait showed that in the game against South Africa. It was a pretty slow wicket and he was getting it up there.

“I do think you have to change it quite a lot, though. You can use pace and put in the odd effort ball as a surprise delivery just as you can use a slower ball in the same way.”

He has also been studying the performances of New Zealand fast bowler Shane Bond, who was outstanding against England, using a mixture of quick deliveries with slower balls to claim figures of 10-1-19-2 in the opening Group C match in St Lucia.

Mahmood was not selected for that match, but was impressed merely by watching Bond’s performance and hopes to introduce some of his tactics into his own displays.

“When we played against New Zealand he bowled in great areas and that wicket in St Lucia just started to stop a little bit so it was very hard to score off him," Mahmood enthused.

“He mixed one or two slower balls in every over he bowled and I think that’s the sort of thing I picked up on and it’s the sort of approach I want to add to my cricket.

“I’ve not played that much county cricket so I’ve been forced to learn most of my cricket at international level and I think it’s a good place to learn.

Mahmmod has been learning at the top level © Getty Images

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“I think you improve quicker at the highest level and I think I’m getting there now. I’m a lot more consistent, especially in the one-day game, and I’m starting to learn what I need to do against different types of opposition now.”

Mahmood’s performance may be enough to retain his place for Friday’s opening Super Eight encounter with Ireland at the Providence Stadium.

Although Plunkett claimed three wickets in the opening two matches, he also conceded runs at almost six an over.

Mahmood also faces competition from dependable Gloucestershire seamer Jon Lewis, who is yet to feature in the tournament but may be considered when England play some of the big-hitters because of his more consistent line and length.

“It’s a close call between the three of us and it’s good to have that sort of competition,” said Mahmood.

“It will make us work that bit harder in the nets and it’s a very healthy competition trying to get into that side. Whoever gets the place will deserve it.

“I’ve been bowling pretty well in the nets and I think Michael Vaughan thought I’d been good in the middle of the innings with the different variations I bowl.

“I thought I did pretty well with that against Kenya, although I’ve not really been practising the variations that much recently because I’ve been concentrating on consistency of line and length.

“I believe that my variations are a strong point of my bowling anyway and I don’t have to practice that as much as line and length and consistency.”