Vince faces the axe if he fails to learn
ASK most fans of the County Championship, and you would get the same answer: they would rather watch James Vince bat than Dawid Malan.
Vince seems to have more talent, he is certainly more elegant, and he has a cover- drive that makes you sit up and take note.
But at the end of the first day at the waCa, Malan had a century to his name, while Vince was back in the pavilion, caught behind for 25.
when i started my Test career, if Graham Gooch scored a hundred you just accepted it as part of life. But if players who were more my generation — guys like Graham Thorpe or Mark Ramprakash — got runs, it made you think that you must get in on the act too. That is what Vince should be doing.
This is the fourth time in a row that he has edged to the cordon — and it means he has this Test plus two more, assuming England don’t drop him, to save his career.
He could do with taking a leaf from his team-mate’s book. when Malan walked out to bat on the first afternoon in Perth, England were 115 for three. Soon after that, they were 131 for four. Two more quick wickets, and the ashes would have been all over. So to bat the way he did under that pressure spoke volumes for his character. i look at Malan and see a guy who seems to have learned quickly in his brief time in Test cricket.
against South africa in the summer he was getting closed off and was vulnerable to the fulllength ball, especially from Kagiso Rabada. But he came over and watched some of Sky’s footage, because he wanted to see if he could make an improvement.
He has also worked on his alignment when Pat Cummins comes round the wicket at him. He is a guy who seems to want to make the most of his attributes. with Vince, you wonder if sometimes cricket comes a bit too easily to him.
where Malan also showed Vince the way was in his judgment outside off stump. The talk at the waCa is always about the bounce and how bowlers are tempted to drop short, but you need to go fuller too — and that’s when a batsman can get on the front foot and drive.
it can be a quick-scoring venue — but only if the batsman leaves well outside off and gets the bowlers to come to him. Malan did that well, whereas Vince did not.
WE all know Vince’s strength is his coverdrive, but it is a case of a strength being a weakness. it shouldn’t even be as big a vulnerability in australia, where the ball moves less. Malan, by contrast, came up with the perfect tempo during his stand with Jonny Bairstow. That’s what excited me most about England’s first day.
and it showed the value of a small tweak to the order, with Bairstow moving up to no 6, where he has the time to remind everyone that he’s one of the team’s three best batsmen. it is ridiculous that it has taken England so long to bat him in that position.
Some may argue Malan should now go to no 3 instead of Vince, but i believe Joe Root is a ready-made no 3. Malan could then slot in at no 4. But for now, he should enjoy his achievement. England hundreds at Perth are few and far between — and this was one of the best.