Malan digs in to keep his Ashes hopes alive
Batsman stakes claim to Australia tour spot with gritty 61 at Headingley, writes Nick Hoult
Dawid Malan’s first scoring shot for England was a six. It changed his career because without the 78 he made in his first Twenty20 international in June, it is unlikely a Test call-up would have followed.
Trevor Bayliss, the England coach, sees little county cricket, so Malan’s flying start against South Africa was perfectly timed.
But yesterday here, Malan played an innings of a different kind that he will hope made a similarly positive impression on the coaching staff and book a winter’s work in Australia.
This was Malan digging in, being gritty and calling on more than a decade of first-class experience to churn out 61 tough runs his team needed at a crucial point in his own career. It was not hugely convincing, but another step in the right direction. He batted for four hours and 53 minutes for his 61, facing 186 balls showing mental strength to put away the big shots during a tough passage in the game. At times, it was painfully hard and, at one stage, Ben Stokes threatened to overtake him, despite starting 32 runs behind.
Having Stokes and Joe Root at the other end for most of the day helped Malan because it took the pressure off him to score. The match situation also took the focus away from his own position in the team and instead he had to concentrate on helping England win the game.
In this series, Malan has made a distinct effort to leave on fourth stump but it has left him fewer scoring options, and getting bogged down is a problem when trying to set the game up in the first innings. This time, he could play cautiously while batting with Root and Stokes and knowing three more of England’s aggressive all-rounders were still to bat.
He also softened up Shannon Gabriel and Kemar Roach so they were worn down, allowing Moeen Ali to play the counter-attack that took the match away from West Indies. Shoulders drooped and West Indies looked increasingly deflated as Malan dropped anchor and a priceless away win became more unlikely. Malan was fortunate. He struggled against the accuracy and bounce of Jason Holder, who beat him twice in his first over outside off stump, luring him into one big drive before finding the edge that was dropped at first slip by Kieran Powell, who was blindsided by a diving wicketkeeper.
Malan had earlier flicked in the air off his hips to be almost caught behind square and he only scored 23 runs from 83 balls in the morning. It was hard work, and rotating strike – keeping the scoreboard moving – will be expected more as his experience grows. Malan is renowned for his work ethic at Middlesex, an admirable strength, but Test cricket is draining and others before him such as Nick Compton and Jonathan Trott, similarly focused on their games, were left exhausted by its demands. Malan has to find a way not to heap too much pressure on himself. What a hard balance it is to be a Test batsman, although his white-ball pedigree shows that a shot-maker lies beneath the surface.
Perhaps playing on his home ground at Lord’s in the third Test will free him up and give him the