Yorkshire CCC’s world-best T20 batsman Dawid Malan in the mix for England ODI selection

Malan’s only ODI came against Ireland at Malahide in May last year.

He scored 24 in a game that England won by four wickets.

As sample sizes go, it was hardly enough to determine whether Malan could transfer his stunning T20 form into consistent displays in 50-over internationals.

However, his domestic numbers suggest that he can (5,135 runs at 41), and it is surely only the abundance of talent available to the England management that has prevented him from proving as much.

As he waits to find out whether he will be chosen for England’s tour to South Africa next month, which comprises three T20 internationals and three ODIs, Malan made clear his 50-over intentions.

“I still want to play 50-over cricket,” he said. “Obviously the time-frames are quite difficult considering I’m 33 years old and they (the England management) are looking to plan ahead for the next World Cup.

“But I’d be 36 by that next World Cup, which I don’t think is too old by any means, so I don’t think age should really be an issue.

“It’s up to the England management, of course but, if I can keep getting the opportunities and the runs in Twenty20 cricket, then hopefully I can keep my name in the hat to keep pushing for 50-over cricket.”

Malan, whose first season at Yorkshire went as well as he might have hoped (he was their leading run-scorer in the Bob Willis Trophy with 332 at 66), is the very definition of an all-format player.

No one who watched him score 219 of those runs in a career-best innings against Derbyshire at Emerald Headingley was left in any doubt that he could still do the job at Test level too; Malan played 15 Tests between July 2017 and August 2018 before losing his place.

He would still like to play Test cricket again - “whether that ship has sailed, I don’t know, but I’ll keep on trying” - and has the small matter of an Ashes century to his name.

But a man who joined Yorkshire on a four-year deal from Middlesex last November is particularly regarded for his white-ball skills, which he would love to bring back to the ODI stage.

“Funnily enough, domestically, 50-over cricket is my strongest format, but the format that I’ve played least for England,” he reflected.

“Obviously, this England team is extremely difficult to get into, especially with the guys that have done so well over the last four years and won the World Cup, so we all know how tough it is to get in there.

“But if guys do lose form, or if injuries do happen, then you want to be in and around that squad to be able to get an opportunity to score runs and put pressure on. I definitely want to play more 50-over.”

For now, Malan’s winter remains fluid pending international clarity.

After the South Africa tour that runs from late November to early December, there is talk of a T20 series in Pakistan in January, coinciding with a planned two-Test series for England in Sri Lanka.

At present, Malan is all set to play in the Lanka Premier League (LPL), which is scheduled to start just before the South Africa tour and finish just after it, and he has signed to play for Hobart Hurricanes in the Big Bash League (BBL), which runs from early December into early February.

Malan described reports earlier this week saying that he had pulled out of the LPL as “fake news, as Donald Trump would say”, with his participation dependent on whether he is picked by England.

“Things are a little bit up in the air,” he added. “We’re still waiting on England selection and that being announced, and that affects whether I can go to the Sri Lankan Premier League. I put my name in for that before the South Africa tour was confirmed, and I’m still part of the Sri Lankan tournament at this point in time.

“Beyond that, if I am picked for England, it will be a case of how it all works with going to Australia from South Africa to play in the Big Bash, which would also depend on whether I was in the Twenty20 and 50-over squads, or just the Twenty20 squad.

“There’s going to be quite a few of the (England) boys playing in the Big Bash as well, so would we have to do a two-week quarantine when we got to Australia or, if we were going from a bubble to a bubble, would the Australian government be able to halve the quarantine perhaps to make it quicker for us to get back playing? We’re still waiting for all of that to be confirmed.”

Among the few certainties is that Malan is relishing playing for Hobart. “It seems like a fantastic club,” he said. “I know the coach (Adam Griffith) from my days at Middlesex, and it’s a fantastic tournament.”

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