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There was more than a whiff of spiky defiance over the perennially underrated Dawid Malan on Wednesday, after he propelled England to a rare series win in Australia.
It wasn’t so much that he was reduced to seven in the first win over the old foe in Perth on Sunday, when even Sam Curran was promoted ahead of him in pursuit of the rope clearing that some still believe is beyond Malan.
No, it was more his failure to earn a full central contract that prompted Malan to have a chat with director Rob Key before hitting 82 of 49 balls here, including four sixes, that took England to their victory , won both games by a narrow margin of eight runs.
Dawid Malan has been touched by the ‘strange’ system that left him missing out on a central England contract – before his big hit 82 of 49 sent England to a T20 series win against Australia
“It’s a somewhat strange system,” said Malan, who instead got an incremental deal that pays per execution. “It seems strongly headed towards red ball cricket.
“Ultimately it puts you in difficult situations if you don’t have a contract because you lose the finances that you would get if you played tournaments. Those are hurdles I will take when I reach them, but hopefully white ball cricket can be recognized the way test cricket does.’
When Malan, consistently the number 1 T20 batter in the world, saw England’s latest contract list, who today value red and white players equally, he was immediately on the phone.
“Keysie and I have already had that conversation,” he said. ‘I can not help it. As players we like to be rewarded for our performance with England.
“There are contracts for that and if you’re in the top five in the world for three years, you’d hope to get recognition, but it doesn’t work that way. It’s still an honor to play for England and I want to try and win as many games as possible.”
However, Ben Stokes could be sweating in a World Cup place after another failed battle
It still seems that Malan is seen as an opening act for England’s string of big hit stars. But he is more supportive of the reasoning that caused him to fall lower and lower in the ranking in Perth.
“If we had lost a wicket in the first three overs I probably would have gone in and if we had lost over a wicket in the sixth I probably would have still gone in,” he added.
“At one point I was at bat four when Stokesey came in, but the situation in the match just changed. We are all flexible. As long as we have a good start, I think the whole team is filled up.’
There was, of course, a reason why Malan dropped out initially and that was to give Ben Stokes time in the middle on his return to T20 international cricket for the first time in 18 months.
It didn’t work in Perth and it didn’t work in Canberra, Stokes took 11 balls over his seven runs on Wednesday in his new ‘permanent’ position of four before being bowled by Adam Zampa trying to sweep.
But Test captain Stokes made up for it with an extraordinary piece of fielding to save four runs
Whisper it with Liam Livingstone in the wings and hoping to return next week for the final warm-up against Pakistan, Stokes could really use a score. Not that England in any way lose faith in their talisman.
Jos Buttler showed that by throwing him the new ball for the first time in T20 internationals, while Stokes led the way in the field, not least with one of the most extraordinary pieces of fielding you can see.
Stokes was on the long line when Mitchell Marsh hit what looked like an unavoidable six as Australia chased England’s 178 for six.
But instead of seeing the ball sail over the boundary, Stokes jumped, catching Marsh brilliantly with one hand, but had to throw the ball back into play when he realized he was about to fall over the boundary.
It turned a six into a two, which turned out to be important, but more importantly, it was breathtaking.
All-rounder Sam Curran (above) claimed the bowling honor by making 3-25 of his four overs
“He’s a freak, isn’t he,” Malan said. “For a man who has an unreliable knee to move the way he does is unbelievable. On another night, he probably could have caught it, vomited, and got up again. It’s great to have him around.’
It was another all-rounder to claim the bowling fees in Sam Curran, who finds himself playing more with England’s first-choice World Cup squad with every match he plays.
Curran took two early wickets, sent Tim David off when Australia’s new star threatened to tie the series and then again kept his composure to bowl the last over when 22 was needed and gave up 13, even though his first full was coin toss struck for six by Pat Cummins.
This may be a warm-up for the World Cup, but it’s an official three-game run and England won it with one game left, which should be encouraging for the bigger battles to come, especially as Australia returns to full power on Wednesday. strength.
Stokes may need runs and Malan may be spirited, but England will be pleased with how things have gone so far in their build-up to the World Cup.