Mahmood's need for speed

Sajid Mahmood claims pace is the first thing a coach looks for in an aspiring seam bowler

As coaching advice to young fast bowlers goes, he could not have put it more simply.

“Bowl as quick as you can,” said England’s Sajid Mahmood when asked for the best tip he would pass on to those wanting to follow in his footsteps.

The 24-year-old paceman speaks from a position of considerable authority, having risen from the relative obscurity of Lancashire’s second XI to become a regular in the England Test side in little more than a year.

Though Mahmood’s attributes as a fast bowler are plentiful - not only he is tall and a natural athlete, but he has an astonishing eagerness to learn - the one quality that stands out is his raw pace.

Sri Lanka, against whom he took three wickets in four overs on his Test debut in May, and Pakistan - ripped apart by a fiery spell of 4-22 at Headingley later in the summer - can testify to Mahmood’s speed, which topped 90 miles per hour this year.

“I started out wanting to bowl as quick as I could and that’s what I would say to younger bowlers too,” Mahmood told ecb.co.uk.

Mahmood made an instant impact on the Test arena

“That’s the one thing that you can’t really coach. You can always improve on your technique and control after, but the first thing that a lot of coaches look for in a young bowler is whether they can bowl fast. If a young kid has got pace, then you can work with that.”

Mahmood was speaking at the NatWest Speed Stars final at the ECB Academy in Loughborough, where 32 players competed for the title of the UK’s Young Fast Bowler in their age group.

Whittled down from more than 4,000 entrants who took part in the 30 events that formed part of the NatWest Cricket Roadshow during the season, the finalists had a star audience in Mahmood and fellow fast bowler Katherine Brunt, the England women’s cricketer of the year.

“All the kids love it,” added Mahmood. “Whenever the roadshow is on at the Tests, there are always loads of them having a go.

“That’s great because it gets the kids involved from all age groups.

“It’s all about trying to get them to bowl quick, and that’s good to see.

“I’ve spoken to some of them who are 15 or 16 and they’re already bowling at 70mph, which is pretty sharp. I’m starting to get a bit worried about my place.”

Katherine Brunt is a huge fan of the Speed Stars competition

Though Mahmood’s words are spoken in jest, there was a time in the not too distant past when a failure to adhere to his own mantra cast doubt over whether he would fulfil his potential.

“When I first started out in county cricket I just tried to bowl quick, but maybe a year into my time in the Lancashire first team, I wasn’t doing as well as I would have liked because I’d stopped doing that.

“I saw a couple of games on the TV and players were bowling high 80s and early 90s, and I thought, I’ll give that a go.

“So I just thought I’m going to bowl as quick as I can again, and went back to doing that. Fortunately for me, it worked out.”

For those in any doubt as to the best approach to fast bowling, Brunt may just convince them.

“This is where the opportunities are,” she said of the Speed Stars scheme.

“Kids don’t always get seen at a young age, and there was nothing like this five years ago.

“If there’s a kid who can bowl 60 or 70 miles an hour, then he might just get spotted. Things like this are great for that.”