Don't blame The Hundred for England's ODI woes - Dawid Malan
DAWID MALAN believes that it is “a very easy excuse” to point the finger of blame at England’s 50-over decline on the downgraded status of the One-Day Cup, although the Yorkshire batsman believes that the challenge for the game’s administrators is to find a schedule that works for everyone.
As England prepare to embark on a new era in white-ball cricket under the leadership of his Yorkshire team-mate Harry Brook, whose appointment it is hoped will revitalise the side’s fortunes in 50-over and T20 cricket, Malan has batted off suggestions that the decline of the One-Day Cup to make room for the concurrent 100-ball competition is responsible for England’s white-ball displays.
After the apogee of their World Cup wins in 2019 and 2022, in 50 and 20-over cricket respectively, England have flopped at more recent events, including the Champions Trophy earlier this year.
Malan, for so long a key figure for England in white-ball himself, said it was too simplistic to apportion culpability on the apparent declining import of domestic 50-over action.
“I think that’s a very easy excuse to have,” he said.
“These guys play bilateral series throughout the year; they play 50-over cricket.
"They had five of the World Cup-winning group still playing (at the Champions Trophy), plus guys that have played 30, 40 games for England already.
“So, I think with this current group, that’s a bit of a cop-out when it comes to that.
"I think maybe the next generation, once those five guys move on, maybe then you could start looking at it and saying yes, fair enough, and looking at the schedule of 50-over cricket, whether you make players available for more Lions trips, perhaps, so they can actually get some more experience in it, but I don’t think that’s the reason why England have underperformed in 50-over cricket.”
The schedule, as ever, is a major bugbear.
Counties start the season with seven County Championship matches in the space of eight weeks, placing unwanted burden on bowlers particularly, and Malan believes a balance needs to be struck.
“I think county cricket is what develops your cricketers, it's where you find your cricketers,” said the 37-year-old.
“I guess the only challenge for county cricket is to try and find a schedule that actually works for everyone, so we can keep developing county cricketers to play for England, because that's the challenge.
“You don't want guys to be bowling 75 miles per hour because they're absolutely shattered because they play seven games in as many weeks, or whatever.
“You want to get the best out of your bowlers, you want the quality to be as high as it can.
“So maybe with all the funds from The Hundred coming in, they can adjust the schedule a little bit more and we can play some good, high-quality cricket, but county cricket is your breeding ground, that's where your players come from, and it needs to be protected.
"I don't know any person that's played for England that hasn't come through county cricket.”