'Humbled' Malan sticks to his gameplan

Dawid Malan didn't think he would ever play a Test match for England.

He dreamed of course, as all professional players do, but once he had reached his late twenties and others had climbed passed him into the gaze of selectors the realisation of that dream seemed an impossible prospect.

Now, a day after turning 30, the Middlesex batsman is able to contemplate the possibility of playing his fifth Test and of walking out to bat at Lord's - not just the home of cricket, but his cricket home.

"I was just in the office and someone said 'you could be playing a game at Lord's' and I said 'yes I know'," Malan said. "If someone had told me the beginning of the year, or four years ago, that I would play a Test match for England, I would probably have laughed at them and now I have a chance to play at my home ground and it is quite humbling to know you could be playing at the home of cricket."

Malan is one of a triumvirate of new batsmen in the side and the scrutiny surrounding the batting positions two, three and five hasn't diminished throughout the English summer. He admits he was "looking too far ahead" when he came into the Test side, envisioning the big shots and the big scores that would follow. Instead, he failed to score more than 18 in his first four Test innings.

"I was thinking about scoring a hundred every game and how I was going to score it, where I was going to hit Rabada, pull him, hit him over extra cover, what have you." Malan said. "Before you know it, you're out in the middle then back in the pavilion, and you've not really concentrated on the ball as hard or stuck to your basics.

"You've let the occasion get to you, and not been as focused as what you should be in that moment. It was going away and knowing this was my gameplan, there are 20,000 people in the crowd, but this is my gameplan and I need to stick to it no matter what. It just focuses you."

Amid the swirl of detailed dissection surrounding his early performances, it was the detailed focus on his technique and stance during the series against South Africa that was most unsettling.

"Rabada bowled me a good inswinging Yorker," Malan said. "I got out and I watched the replays afterwards, and people were talking about how closed I was, and I started worrying about whether I should be opening up my feet, whereas I'd actually made a conscious effort to be more side-on - that was about a year ago.

"Then you start doubting it, whereas doing that has got you picked, so give that a go and as you go along you can work out if that's a strength or a weakness for you. And then adapt slowly as you go along.

"That was the challenge against South Africa, it wasn't the disappointment of the failure - but if you fail in county cricket you go home and you don't have to read or see anything, you know you are backed and supported, guys have seen you for years and know what you can do.

"But in Test cricket people haven't seen as much, the commentators, and they analyse you hands, feet, head. I found that hard first two games but I've tried to make a fresh start, do what I do at county cricket and try and adapt as I go along."

A pair of half-centuries against West Indies has softened some of the criticism, although Malan stressed he was disappointed that he failed to cash in on both occasions, particularly at Edgbaston where conditions and the match situation were particularly favourable. And it is now reasonable to assume that, should he acquit himself well at Lord's, a ticket to Australia would be a likely reward.

If it is forthcoming, the influence of a pair of Australians will have played its part. Malan cites the advice of former Middlesex team-mate Chris Rogers and also Adam Voges - both of whom made their Test debuts in their 30s - as being instrumental to his elevation to Test batsman.

"Voges I spoke to a bit at the time I was not getting looked at," Malan said. "I wouldn't say I didn't know how to keep myself motivated but you get up in the morning and go to the gym because you have an ambition to play international cricket.

"Nobody has a right to play but deep down you think you should be playing and want to be playing and I found it quite hard when I was overlooked year in, year out. You start looking at the stats and you say what more do I need to do? Do I need to score five hundreds instead of six hundreds?

"I had a chat with him [Voges] and asked 'how did you go about it? You played one-day cricket but were overlooked in Test cricket for a while?' He said he went away, sat down and he revisited all of his goals. Every night he did his preparation because he thought every time he missed the boat in Test cricket he gave up a little bit on his homework and did not do his preparation for his games.

"He said 'you know what, I am going to show discipline in my own preparation and go through my checklists'. Before he knew it he was playing for Australia and something similar has happened to me. Before I have known it, I have played four Tests for England."

The influence of Rogers was perhaps more clearly seen in Malan's innings at Headingley. His 65 was hardly fluent, but the ability to score an ugly half-century when the runs aren't flowing is something the former Australia opener taught him to value.

"Chris Rogers always said at Middlesex it's about finding a way, you won't feel good every day, every months, it's about scoring runs when you don't and then cashing in when you do."

There would be some poetic symmetry if the advice of two Australian - and Middlesex - players who reached the pinnacle in the autumn of their careers helped Malan seal a trip to Australia in an Autumn Test at Middlesex's home ground.

For while Malan didn't think he'd ever play a Test at Lord's, didn't think he'd ever play an Ashes Test, if he does well in the first he could all but guarantee the second.