RICHARD GIBSON – INSIDE COUNTY CRICKET: Saqib to hit ground running and Abbas won’t move for Pep

If you want an idea of how long a year can feel in professional sport, try asking Saqib Mahmood.

On Thursday he plays for Lancashire against Somerset at Taunton, his first County Championship appearance since the corresponding week of the 2022 season.

Forget the extraordinary things that England have achieved in the interim and consider that when fast bowler Mahmood began feeling discomfort in his back versus Gloucestershire last April, a Test shirt was in his possession, having proved a rare beacon in an otherwise sorry tour of the Caribbean the previous month.

Before being diagnosed with the stress fracture that would keep him out of contention for the summer of Baz, he received a phone call from incoming captain Ben Stokes spelling out what was required in county action following that start of six wickets in two Tests at under 23 runs apiece against West Indies.

‘I got my chance on pretty docile wickets out there, and I was happy in myself that I showed a lot of resilience, and kept coming back,’ Mahmood says.

Bowler Saqib Mahmood impressed on the tour of Caribbean before suffering a back injury

‘That’s what Test cricket ultimately is – being able to do it day after day, spell after spell. It was the one thing I was really proud of and I really felt at home at that level, and on those wickets I felt challenging.’

As Mahmood points out a player ‘can feel quite isolated’ when injuries strike, but it is a sign of the health of England’s current environment that Stokes invited him to be a part of the dressing room at last year’s Manchester Test, and he says it felt like he’d not been away when he returned to the limited-overs squads last winter.

Wet weather here subsequently delayed his return to first-class action by a week and he starts 2023 several steps behind square one as a result, as he bids to become a figure in England’s Ashes equation.

Ironically, the elements might hamper him further. In a hot, dry summer, Mahmood’s reverse swing skills would shift him a notch or two further up a pecking order that starts with Jimmy Anderson, Stuart Broad and Ollie Robinson, has Chris Woakes in reserve, in addition to pace ingredients in Jofra Archer, Mark Wood and Olly Stone, fitness dependent.

While an effective new-ball bowler, he doesn’t possess the nous or career records of his traditional seam rivals, and while approaching 90 miles per hour, he doesn’t get to the other side of that line as often as the X factor trio.

‘I feel I can do all of what the captain requires but perhaps not to the levels the other guys can,’ adds Mahmood, who worked on raising his trajectory on a Barbados camp with Archer pre-Christmas.

‘But if I am honest, I feel I am better bowler than I was, the time out has allowed me to become more skilful and I want to be someone they have to pick.

‘In my head now I feel I have to perform at this level to be within a chance of doing that. There can be no rustiness, I have to kick off straight away.’

Abbas won’t move for Guardiola 

His outstanding consistency meant Mohammad Abbas’s Hampshire team-mates bestowed superstar status upon him long ago – but he went up another level as he began a third season with the club.

Part of the Pakistan international’s deal at the Ageas Bowl is accommodation in the premier penthouse suite of the Hilton Hotel that overlooks the ground, and he clearly moves for no one – sporting royalty like Pep Guardiola included.

Premier League teams tend to stay at the hotel for away fixtures at Southampton, and champions Manchester City requested use of that particular suite for their manager earlier this month, only to be knocked back due to the presence of Hampshire’s overseas player.

The joke doing the rounds in the Hampshire dressing room is that Guardiola was told to take another room not because of Abbas’ typically prolific form with the ball – he began the season with six-wicket hauls against both Nottinghamshire and Surrey – but due to the fact the hotel’s director of operations is an Arsenal fan!

Mohammad Abbas refused to move out of his penthouse suite for Pep Guardiola

ONE TO WATCH: Jack Haynes

This is already shaping to be a pivotal period in the young Worcestershire batsman’s career.

A hundred under his belt in round-two defeat at Durham – to add to the three he scored in a personal 2022 Championship return of 811 runs at 47.7 – made him the leading scorer amongst England-qualified players in Division Two.

At 22, he is already on the national radar, having spent two spells with England Lions last winter, working with Ian Bell in the process.

Easy on the eye, he also displays an acknowledgment that batsmanship is as much about substance as style.

He has a decent mentor too. His father Gavin served the county as an all-rounder during the 1990s and continues to coach him – officially so over recent months when Haynes senior was seconded by Worcestershire to fill in when Kadeer Ali was on England Under-19 duty.

Worryingly, for supporters at New Road, though, Haynes is out of contract this year and the big clubs will undoubtedly be circling come June when offers for 2024 and beyond can be made to free agents.

Prolific Pope stands out 

Ollie Pope’s love of home comforts continues unabated: his brilliant second-innings hundred to turn a hard-fought match versus Hampshire into a cakewalk took his overall tally to 11 in first-class cricket at the Kia Oval.

Surrey’s England no 3 only has six elsewhere and averages a Bradman-esque 96 at his county headquarters, making him something of an anomaly amongst modern players.

Not such good news for batters north of the Thames, however. Things have barely improved for Middlesex’s top-order since they slumped to 4-4 versus Essex in their first innings back in Division One.

Ollie Pope has scored 11 centuries at the Kia Oval and averages a Bradman-esque 96

After three visits to the crease, Sam Robson averaged 2.33; Mark Stoneman 1; and Pieter Malan 2. And after losing a bowler-dominated contests with Northamptonshire, the trio still hadn’t managed to take their personal records into double figures.

Meanwhile, Northamptonshire will have to look elsewhere for a pace bowler next month after Australian tearaway Lance Morris was ruled out of his stint with a back injury.

Cricket Australia have ordered the Western Australian to spend the next four to six weeks ‘de-loading’ after an issue developed during the back end of the Sheffield Shield season spilled over to the eve of Ashes selection.

Morris was due to take over fast-bowling duties at Wantage Road from compatriot Chris Tremain, who took an impressive 13 wickets across the first two of his three scheduled matches.