CAPTAIN LOOKING FORWARD TO LAW’S TENURE
MIDDLESEX CAPTIAN HOPING NEW BOSS WILL GET THE BEST OUT OF HIS SIDE FOR THE 2019 SEASON
MIDDLESEX captain Dawid Malan believes Stuart Law’s appointment as head coach is exactly what the county need to revive their fortunes in 2019.
Law, who will leave his role as West Indies coach to take over at Lord’s in January, has no previous connections with the club, unlike any of his predecessors during the past 20 years.
Richard Scott, who vacated the head coach’s position in July, had been an internal appointment, like Toby Radford before him, while John Emburey and Mike Gatting were both distinguished former Middlesex players.
But Malan feels the 49-yearold Australian will bring fresh perspective after Middlesex’s below-par 2018 campaign, in which they failed to win promotion to the top tier of the County Championship or progress past the group stage in either whiteball competition.
“Stuart Law is someone who has been involved with cricket in different conditions around the world,” said Malan.
“He can look at the way we train, our preparation and mindset and hopefully he’s the guy to get the best out of us.
“It’ll take a little bit of time to look at the players and work out how he wants us to play, but he’ll want to get the ball rolling and win games of cricket.
“I think it’s also important to say a massive thank you to Richard Scott – he had a fantastic 10 years or so with the club and left us with a good legacy to build on.”
Malan’s first season as captain ended on a high note last week as the 57-run victory at Durham followed a familiar pattern – recovering from a low first-innings total to successfully defend a small target.
The win ensured Middlesex finished their red-ball campaign fourth in Division Two, albeit 42 points short of the promotion place that had been their aim.