Full Name

Sajid Iqbal Mahmood

Born

December 21, 1981, Bolton, Lancashire

Age

42y 89d

Nicknames

Saj, King

Batting Style

Right hand Bat

Bowling Style

Right arm Fast medium

Playing Role

Bowler

Height

6ft 4in

Education

Smithills School

A former supermarket shelf-stacker, Sajid Mahmood, whose cousin Amir Khan is a professional boxer, is tall and decidedly rapid, and bowls a fuller length than many of his pace-bowling contemporaries. He was spotted in the Bolton Leagues and joined Lancashire on a scholarship in 2002.

From there, he rose rapidly through the ranks, and despite having only six first-class wickets to his name, he was selected on the England A tour to India and Malaysia in 2003-04. In unhelpful conditions, his wholehearted performances on that trip meant his full England debut was only a matter of time, although he had a chastising experience against New Zealand at Bristol, where his seven overs disappeared for 56 runs.

For a while, he made his name at the expense of his team-mates. In 2003, he put Andrew Flintoff out of action with a beamer in the Old Trafford nets, and later broke Alex Gidman's hand at the ECB Academy. But three years later, he was inflicting the damage on his opponents instead, as he announced his Test arrival against Sri Lanka at Lord's with a fiery three-wicket burst, before overcoming cries of "traitor" from the British Pakistani fans at Headingley, as England sealed the series against his father's former countrymen. But England's management weren't convinced and Mahmood was overlooked for the subsequent Ashes opener at Brisbane, only to be recalled late in the series with no form or confidence to fall back on. Excellent in the field, he again showed promise with the ball in the subsequent World Cup but inconsistency continued to hamper his progress.

When Peter Moores took over as England coach, Mahmood was dumped along with Duncan Fletcher's infatuation with pace above other considerations. Ironically, when Moores took the coaching job at Lancashire in 2009 Mahmood pushed hard for an England recall and was rewarded with a call-up to the one-day squad for South Africa. But all Mahmood's old flaws - the tendency to spray the ball around, and an unfortunate propensity to deliver no-balls - resurfaced in a Centurion T20 horror show: 4-0-61-1. He shuffled from international view once again.

After dropping out of Lancashire's plans and struggling in a loan spell at Somerset, he moved to Essex before the start of the 2013 season. Regretfully for such an amenable figure, it brought no resurgence and with his pace now well down and age and first-class bowling average both now the wrong side of 30, the conclusion that Mahmood has failed to realise his potential was inescapable. He only played 12 matches in two seasons at Essex, taking 11 wickets, and his contract was not renewed.
ESPNcricinfo staff

Sajid Mahmood Career Stats

Bowling

FormatMatInnsBallsRunsWktsBBIBBMAveEconSR4w5w10w
Tests8141130762204/226/13038.104.0456.5200
ODIs262511971169304/504/5038.965.8539.9100
T20Is448415531/311/3151.6611.0728.0000
FC121-17205108013296/30-32.823.7652.21692
List A153-668359852105/165/1628.505.3731.8710
T20s696914501920774/214/2124.937.9418.8200

Batting & Fielding

FormatMatInnsNORunsHSAveBFSR100s50s4s6sCtSt
Tests811181348.1016150.310010000
ODIs261548522*7.7210184.15008110
T20Is42211*-250.00000010
FC1211582021789415.78313169.56010--300
List A1538223541299.16--00--230
T20s69318183347.95125146.40001212180
Sajid Mahmood

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Test
ODI
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Recent Matches of Sajid Mahmood

MatchBatBowlDateGroundFormat
World XI vs Asia XI0*1/4106-Oct-2014DohaOTHERT20
Essex vs Glamorgan17 & 30/12 & 0/1015-Aug-2014SwanseaFC
Essex 2nd XI vs Kent 2nd XI183/39 & 0/2712-Aug-2014HalsteadOTHER
Essex 2nd XI vs Kent 2nd XI--2/3911-Aug-2014HalsteadOTHEROD
Essex 2nd XI vs Nthants 2nd322/5925-Jul-2014CoggeshallOTHEROD

Photos of Sajid Mahmood

Sajid Mahmood holds his head in his hands as Murray Goodwin completes a run
Sajid Mahmood went wicketless for Somerset
Saj Mahmood is bowled by Vernon Philander
Sajid Mahmood looks back at the damage
Sajid Mahmood roars in celebration after striking with his first ball of the match
Sajid Mahmood helped Lancashire fight back on a dramatic day