Frequent flyer Malan ready for take-off
JUNE may only just have arrived but no-one could begrudge Dawid Malan’s well-earned break.
The Middlesex man returned to action with the England Lions against South Africa A at Trent Bridge on Thursday, fresh off the plane following a week-long holiday in Portugal.
That was just the latest stop on Malan’s 2017 world tour, which has already included destinations as diverse as Dubai and Lahore.
It hasn’t done him too much harm, either, with the Londonborn left-hander scoring freely in both one-day and four-day cricket since returning to England from his successful stint in the Pakistan Super League (PSL).
And tells The Cricket Paper that his back-to-back seasons in the PSL have had a dramatic impact on his game.
“The first year it was a bit of an eye-opener because you’re up against five international bowlers and there’s no easy way out, which you sometimes have in county cricket,” he says.
“It’s a little bit diluted in county cricket because of the number of teams.You have two or three guys you can perhaps take down more easily than the other bowlers.
“In my first year in the PSL I had to adapt and change my game. I’m honestly a bit gutted to have had to do that a bit late in my career and it taking until the age I was to work out exactly what I needed to change to be able to play at a higher standard.
“A tournament like that can make or break you and it puts you in a position where you know exactly where you’re at.
“You look at people who’ve played for England or the IPL from a young age and they’re developing into world class players because they’ve been playing at a different level against different bowlers and in different pressure situations.
“It definitely helps your cricket if you get exposed to those kind of situations early on.”
It has certainly done the likes of Ben Stokes and Joe Root no harm to have been thrust into the limelight at an age when others have been simply establishing themselves at county level.
Stokes’ involvement in the IPL, of course, has come under intense scrutiny this week as a result of the injury that left him having to pass a last-minute fitness test for England before facing Bangladesh yesterday.
His performances against some of the world’s best players on one of cricket’s grandest stages this spring, though, have singled him out as one of world cricket’s box office performers.
And Malan is in no doubt that England benefit as much as Stokes from his involvement with Rising Pune Supergiant.
“The positives definitely outweigh the negatives,” says Malan. “Cricketers are managed a hell of a lot better these days. There’s a lot of cricket and, particularly the depth that England have now, there’s always scope to rest players because there are two or three players in each position that they can call on if they need to.”
Malan is potentially one of those and could easily fight his way into contention for a place in the one-day side later this summer if he carries his domestic form into the series against South Africa.
His 185 off 126 balls against Sri Lanka A while captaining the Lions in 2016, is a record that will take some beating. England’s schedule means the selectors will take note of any repeat – regardless of what happens in the Champions Trophy.