England seamer Saqib Mahmood has revealed he considered taking a break from red-ball cricket after a second stress fracture in as many years threatened to derail his career. (More Cricket News)
A serious back injury struck him down soon after a promising debut Test tour of the West Indies in March 2022 and hit again at the start of last summer, when the problem reoccurred just as he was hoping to put his name in the Ashes frame.
During the long and lonely months of rehabilitation he told Lancashire he planned to step away from the first-class game this season and ease himself back in as a T20 specialist.
He has since banished the idea, enthused by the arrival of new head coach Dale Benkenstein and by his own love of the longer format, and although he will miss this week바카라s Vitality County Championship curtain-raiser he is working towards a full comeback in the next month.
바카라It바카라s quite overwhelming to think that two years of my career have just sort of gone. I don바카라t want to have a third year like that,바카라 he said.
바카라Initially I didn바카라t want to play any red ball cricket at the start of this season. At the back end of last summer I had a chat to the guys here because I was nervous about my body.
바카라I was asking for a little bit of empathy from the guys. I just want to be on the park contributing, not on the sides. I don바카라t want to be chasing Test cricket at the start of the season, breaking down and then not be any good to anyone. I want to do it properly.
바카라We left it as a question mark and when Benky (Benkenstein) came in he sort of filled me with that excitement again 바카라 a new coach telling me how important I was.
바카라So you have more chats and you try to find a way of doing it in as safe a way as possible. I바카라ve gone from not wanting to play it this year to trying to get ready for it.바카라
While Lancashire certainly took Mahmood바카라s concerns seriously, those even closer to him were more sceptical that he would be able to commit exclusively to the limitations of the limited-overs game.
바카라My brother told me 바카라I knew you바카라d never do that. No way would you would sit on the side watching the guys play바카라. That바카라s not who I am,바카라 he admitted.
바카라I still watch Test cricket more than I watch white-ball cricket, I still focus on it. As soon as I바카라ve got a red ball in hand I really love the things that come with it: trying to work batters out, the craft of bowling, things I pride myself on.
바카라Even the short experience I had in Test cricket, I didn바카라t want to give that up. It might feel like I바카라ve put a tick in the box by playing Test cricket but I feel I바카라ve got more to give in that format.
바카라My mindset is just to be fit. If I stay fit and do the right things I like to think the England stuff should take care of itself. Last year I was really trying to push myself to get ready for the Ashes and in the end I did too much, too soon by trying to look for something that wasn바카라t quite there.
바카라I don바카라t expect to be bowling at 90mph tomorrow, ready to play in an England shirt, it바카라s a process. Hopefully by the time I start I바카라ll peak at the right time.바카라
