Saqib Mahmood was spurred on by the sight of his England teammates in their whites getting ready to take the field as he and Jack Leach mounted their determined 10th-wicket rearguard on the opening day in Grenada.
The No 11 is not famed for his batting, given a career-best of 34 in first-class cricket for Lancashire. But his first innings at Test level – one that underlined his impressive temperament – could play a significant role in this decider against West Indies, turning 114 for nine into a healthier 204 all out by the close.
Mahmood was last man out, chopping on the ball after he had moved to 49 with a rasping four off Jermaine Blackwood’s part-time spin, and admitted to feeling “gutted” afterwards; his motivation for the knock – and a record 10th-wicket stand of 90 for England in the Caribbean – was at least a source of amusement.
“[When I got out to the middle] I did say to Leachy: ‘The cheeky fuckers have got their whites on,’” revealed Mahmood. “It did spur us on a little bit. I had a glance over later to see if some had taken them off but they had the whites on throughout. But yes, we did spot that.
“We had little short targets, the first was seeing off that spell from Alzarri Joseph and Jayden Seales. They were a big threat. It could have fallen into pieces after the start we had but we stuck at it well. Hopefully we have tired those guys out.”
England were 90 for eight before tea and will head into the second day knowing they must get the new ball talking like it did for West Indies on this spicy surface. Certainly Mahmood put the 149 minutes of defiance he showed alongside Leach in part down to the older ball going soft. Had Mahmood not been dropped on 15, England would have been 149 all out but they at least have a score on the board. That reprieve was also the motivation for the booming straight six off Kyle Mayers that followed the very next delivery.
The 25-year-old added: “I had faced 25-30 balls without getting a run then I got dropped and I just thought: ‘I’m gonna take this guy down.’ Some of the lads got stuck into me for running after I hit that six.
“It was good fun out there with Leachy, it was a case of being disciplined out there and hitting the bad ball. If you hear me in the dressing room, I’ll always talk myself up as a batter. But when you come into this environment and you’ve got guys bowling 145-150kph you tend to go quiet a little bit.
“I’ll try and stay level after this. But it would have been nice to get 50.”
