Shan Masood link made apoint of walking past Lord’s every day when he lived in St John’s Wood as ayoung man; in his first innings as a county cricketer, he made 91 there tolead Derbyshire’s reply against Middlesex in the opening round of theChampionship season. He had to drag himself up off the pitch after chargingdown it and losing his balance as Josh de Caires pushed through a wideoffbreak to have him stumped, but this was a serene start to his season asan overseas player.
Masood lived five minutes away from Lord’slinkfrom2008 to 2013, staying at his parents’ flat outside term-time while studyingat Stamford School, then Durham University. He would daydream about playinga Test match there while walking back from the gym and realised thatambition six years ago. This time, he fell nine runs short of a hundred onhis return to his home away from home.
“It’s a bit surreal coming back,” he said at the close. “Walking into theground rather than walking past it, that’s a huge change. That’s why youplay the sport. You enjoy these little moments; they stay with youforever.” He missed the milestone, but his innings buoyed a Derbyshire sidethat struggled with the bat last season, starting strongly on a flat,slowish pitch in response to Middlesex’s 401.
The only two players to average over 35 for Derbyshire last year left theclub over the winter: Matt Critchley joined Essex, while Harvey Hoseinretired after multiple concussions. This represented a bright start to2022, and the club hope that the arrival of Ian Bell as a battingconsultant for the first two months of the season will spark furtherimprovements.
Masood’s deal came about thanks to a chance encounter with Mickey Arthur,his former Pakistan coach, at Dubai airport at the end of last year. Arthurwas at the end of his contract as Sri Lanka’s head coach following the T20World Cup and mulling Derbyshire’s offer to become their new head ofcricket. He had spent a couple of days in Dubai after Sri Lanka’selimination, “planning ahead as to what I wanted to do”.
“I thought there would be a signal somewhere that it was going to be theright move,” he recalled at his unveiling earlier this year, “and just whenI was thinking that, I walked straight into Shan Masood. We went and had acoffee and I said: ‘Do you want to come and play for us for a year, and tryand get your place in the Pakistan side back?'”
Masood jumped at the chance. He was recalled to the Test squad for lastmonth’s series against Australia on the back of a strong domestic season inthe Quaid-e-Azam Trophy and a strong start to the Championship season willhelp him push his case further. At 32, he should be in the prime of hiscareer and his impressive form in the recent PSL hinted at a man in form,albeit in a different format.
“If I look at the player I was in 2016 compared to the player that I feel Iam now, there’s a huge difference,” he said. “Mickey can take a huge chunkof credit for that. He’s always pushed me. We’ve had hard conversations andhard moments as well, but it’s always been for my betterment and for mygood – and he’s done that for a lot of players back in Pakistan as well whoare reaping the rewards for the time he’s invested in them.
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“I’m in a decent headspace right now. I’m more focused on developing myselfas a player and getting this opportunity to play cricket for six months. Idon’t have international cricket on my mind: if it comes, it comes; if itdoesn’t, it doesn’t. The challenge right now for me is to make sure I’mbetter equipped for whatever cricket I play. I just want to learn, scoreruns, and be comfortable with myself – which I feel I am.”
He played fluently, pushing his strike rate up towards 60 as Middlesex’sseamers missed their lengths in their second spells. He survived a coupleof early shouts for lbw, squirted a couple of balls away through the gully,and played and missed at Toby Roland-Jones either side of tea, but waslargely in control, clipping calmly off the pads to score heavily throughmidwicket.
Masood’s poise was epitomised by a pair of boundaries off Roland-Jones,rolling the wrists as he went too straight from around the wicket, thenstanding tall to slap him through extra cover when strayed too wide afterchanging his angle. That made his rush of blood on 91 – the ball after aloud appeal for lbw was turned down – seem inexplicable, as de Caires addeda maiden first-class wicket to his first half-century on day one.
Middlesex added 94 runs to their overnight score in the morning session,Robbie White cruising to fifty, but nearly missed a fourth batting bonuspoint. John Simpson and Roland-Jones both fell to Alex Thomson’s offspinwith the score on 347 in the final over before points are allocated, the110th, leaving Tom Helm the task of hitting his first ball for four. Heduly shuffled across and slog-swept it over midwicket.
They ended the day eyeing a substantial first-innings lead, with WayneMadsen trapped lbw by Ethan Bamber as the shadows lengthened. Tim Murtagh,still toiling away at the age of 40, took his 900th first-class wicket whenhe knocked back Billy Godleman’s off stump; do not rule out the possibilityof him reaching 1000.
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