MAINTAINING A FIRM GRIP

Challenge Cup holders Hull looking forward to semi-final with Leeds

NEW England call-up Dawid Malan wondered if international cricket had passed him by until an unexpected answerphone message from selector James Whitaker proved otherwise.

Twelve months on from his previous call-up into a Twenty20 squad ended in disappointment at being left out of the team, Malan suspected that was perhaps as near as he was going to get to representing his country.

But the 29-year-old Middlesex batsman is back in the frame, initially at the venue where his hopes were dashed last July, this time significantly the oldest of five uncapped inclusions in a 16man squad to cover three fixtures against South Africa.

If he needed any inspiration that you are never too old he need look no further than the evidence of the past weeken in which Pakistan opener Fakhar Zaman, just two years Malan’s junior, followed up his international debut 11 days earlier by hitting a memorable century in a shock Champions Trophy final victory over India at The Oval.

This example is not lost on Malan, who has had to work hard for recognition via Middlesex, England Lions and most recently the inaugural North v South series in the United Arab Emirates.

“It’s no one’s right to play international cricket, to represent your country,” he said.

Malan was born in Roehampton but, of South African descent, was then brought up in the Western Cape before switching hemispheres again to make his home in England a decade ago.

Reflecting on his near miss last summer, he said: “I definitely thought I’d missed the boat – being involved, not playing, and then not being involved in anything after that. My ambition, my dream is to play for England. So I hope I can get the cap this time.”

If he does, he will be hoping it is merely the start of his new era.

“If you take your opportunity, there’s no reason you can’t be pushing other players to become a permanent fixture in the team,” Malan said. “I want to play all forms of cricket for England.”

The dashing left-handed opener knows it will be far from easy to dislodge Jason Roy or Alex Hales at the top of England’s white-ball order despite the former’s loss of form in the Champions Trophy.

“You never wish bad on people, single out people who aren’t scoring runs,” he said. “I think Jason is a fantastic player, and he’s going to get through with flying colours.

“I just have to score as many runs as possible, and hope that’s enough to push people out – whether they’re in or out of form.”