Malan: I was lucky to go to Ashes, but I feel at home now
IT TAKES some England players a career to feel at home in the Ashes. Dawid Malan needed one ball. Walking out on the first day of the first Test at Brisbane last November, he had prepared for a Mitchell Starc yorker — and a yorker is what he got. He played it with ease. By the end of an otherwise dark series, Malan had provided a glimmer of light: his haul of 383 runs was England’s highest, and his century at Perth one of only three hundreds. As Malan prepares to resume his role at No 5 for next month’s two-Test series against Pakistan, he finds himself a step ahead of Mark Stoneman and James Vince — and still pinching himself that his Ashes went so swimmingly after a summer in which he trod water against South Africa and West Indies. ‘After the South Africa series, Hashim Amla told me I looked really anxious when I started in all my four innings,’ he tells Sportsmail. ‘He said, “You didn’t look like you were calm at the crease. But don’t worry — it’s a good thing. There are not many guys who start their Test career really well, and continually do well. It’s usually the guys who have a few setbacks early who have to go away and work it out quicker”. ‘I thought that was a good way of looking at it. And since then I’ve passed 50 seven times in 17 Test innings. If only I could wipe off that series: on paper I’d look a hell of a lot better and feel a lot more secure about where I am in the team.’
The observation is revealing. Malan, 30, thinks deeply about his game, and wants his stats to reflect the work he has put into a lateblooming international career. After 12 Tests, he averages 30. He knows it should be higher, but he is also grateful for the chance to improve it. ‘I definitely doubted myself, and whether I should be playing Test cricket after that South Africa series. I was a bit surprised to be picked for the Ashes. I thought I was pretty fortunate,’ he says. But England’s batting cupboard is not plentifully stocked right now, and he set about making the most of his lucky break. And despite the hullabaloo over the ECB’s new 100-ball tournament, the five-day format remains Malan’s main ambition. The Ashes taught him some valuable lessons. ‘Watching guys like Steve Smith and (David) Warner, you pick little things up. It was good to watch their mindset and how hungry they were to score runs. You had to work so hard for their wicket. If I’m honest, I could probably have scored another 100 runs in Australia.’ And his goals for the new season? ‘I want to play all the Test matches, I want to break into the 50-over team and I want to play all the Twenty20s.’