Mahmood relishes uphill battle

_{Sajid Mahmood assessed his side's chances in the Friends Provident Trophy in a chat with ECBtv}

The lot of the bowler may be getting harder with every passing season, but that has not stopped Sajid Mahmood trying to perfect his one-day game.

Flatter pitches, shortened boundaries, meatier bats and fielding restrictions have all combined to shift the balance of power further towards the batsman in recent years.

Bowlers could be forgiven for contemplating a career change as the tally of fours and sixes continues to soar, yet Mahmood, the Lancashire paceman, prefers to see it as a chance to further expand his repertoire.

While his immediate task with the new ball is to make early inroads into the opposition batting order, Mahmood’s priorities shift towards restricting runs the longer the innings goes on.

“In the first 15 (overs) you’ve got to try and get a couple of wickets as early as possible – try and get the opposition on the back foot,” he told ECBtv.

“I bowl a little bit in the powerplays now, which is a bit interesting. It’s good for bowlers these days because you’ve got to get your yorkers right, or your slower balls, or your gameplan, or whatever it may be.

“You’ve got to do to keep the runs down and take wickets in that sort of period, so it can only improve bowlers’ games.”

Sajid Mahmood makes an impressive start to the Friends Provident Trophy campaign with three Glamorgan wickets

Mahmood’s status as one of the most effective one-day bowlers in the country is reflected in his inclusion in the Friends Provident Trophy Ones to Watch this summer.

But, as impressive as he is with the ball, particularly late in the innings, he remains philosophical over the potential damage that can be inflicted by those standing 22 yards away.

“Some games you are going to go round the park a little bit – it’s just part of the game,” he added.

“As a bowler nowadays, you’ve got to nail your gameplans down and hit your areas.

“You’ve got to be right on top of your game. If you’re not you’re going to go the distance. The margins for error are really small.”

Mahmood has been central to Lancashire’s early-season succession in the competition, returning figures of 3-17 and 3-38 in comprehensive victories over Glamorgan and Northamptonshire respectively.

And the 27-year-old, who tasted defeat by Sussex in the final of the competition in 2006 – in its previous guise as the C&G Trophy – is keen to one better this year.

“We really want to win it,” he said. “We’ve had a really good start so far with two wins.

“As a bowling unit we’re doing really well, and we’ve got a pretty good plan about how we go about doing our things batting-wise. It has worked so far, so hopefully we can carry on.

“I played in the final three years ago – it’s brilliant, it’s just like an international one-dayer.

“The crowd was huge and to be there in front of that crowd playing for your county was brilliant. I’d love to be in that sort of atmosphere again.”