Malan: I had to Tyke a chance

ENGLAND STAR ON WHY HE LEFT MIDDLESEX TO JOIN YORKSHIRE

DAWID MALAN has lifted the lid on his decision to join Yorkshire in a bid to make himself an England regular.

The former Middlesex captain has left after 13 years at Lord’s, during which he played 15 Tests, an ODI and seven T20s for England without making himself indispensable in any format.

His time as captain coincided with the arrival of Stuart

Law (right) as head coach and they did not get on well.

Law is a strong Aussie character tasked with returning Middlesex to the County Championship first division, but did not consult Malan.

“I just needed a fresh challenge,” said Malan, 32. “I’ve been captain of Middlesex for two years and been banging my head against a wall.

“I didn’t enjoy cricket as much as I’d have liked to. I still performed at domestic cricket, which I’m proud of myself for doing that while, as I said, knocking my head against the wall.

“Middlesex have been fantastic. They’ve given me every opportunity. I just felt it was the right time to move.

“The new coach has come in, but it frustrated me. I didn’t really know what was going on and what the plans were.

“I found out after the season that his plan is to move in the same direction, but I didn’t know during the year what was going on.

“Yorkshire seem like a team that want to win trophies. I don’t want to finish my career just plodding along in county cricket. I still want to play all three formats for England.”

The way for Malan to keep alive his England ambitions is to produce match-winning knocks, which is why he was disappointed by Sunday’s game against New Zealand, when he made 39 in a 21-run defeat.

“You can make good scores, but when you’re not winning games for England, it doesn’t mean much,” he added.