Saqib Mahmood Signs White-Ball Deal with Lancashire, but Test Ambitions Remain

Saqib Mahmood, the 27-year-old Lancashire fast bowler, has signed a three-year white-ball deal with the club, but he insists that he still harbors ambitions of playing Test cricket for England.

Mahmood, who made his Test debut in the Caribbean in March 2022, has been plagued by injuries in recent seasons, including consecutive stress fractures of the back in 2022 and 2023. He has not played a first-class match for Lancashire since May, but he returned to the England set-up in last month's T20I series against Australia.

Despite his injury woes, Mahmood remains determined to play Test cricket for England again. "While this is a white-ball contract, I still have an ambition to play red-ball cricket for England again and for Lancashire in the County Championship," he said. "There are options within this contract for that to happen."

Lancashire's director of cricket performance, Mark Chilton, said that the club's priority is to manage Mahmood's availability around their full Blast schedule. "This contract allows greater control over Saqib's availability during the Vitality Blast blocks in the summer," Chilton said. "This is something we will work closely with Saqib on, particularly around his franchise commitments."

Mahmood's deal does not preclude him from forming part of the "stable" of fast bowlers that England head coach Brendon McCullum has said he wants to be able to call upon ahead of next year's Ashes tour. However, it represents a potential retreat from availability, with his previous injury issues meaning that a future on the T20 franchise circuit might be a prudent option for his longevity.

The encroachment of franchise tournaments on the English season is a challenge to the county game that will require a coherent response going forward, according to ECB chief executive Richard Gould. "We are certainly hearing from our clubs and our members that we need to control things a little bit," Gould said. "We have to be proud of what we've got and protect it."

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