'It's nice to put pressure on rivals and to show the world what you can do'
Thursday 15 March 2018 12:27, UK
England's Dawid Malan is determined to prove just how good a Test player he can be by building on a solid Ashes display in New Zealand.
Malan struck his maiden Test century this winter in Australia, outscoring Joe Root and Alastair Cook to average 42.55 in a series that England lost 4-0.
Now the Middlesex captain's sights are set on becoming a firm fixture in England's top-order.
In a wide-ranging interview on Sky Sports Cricket Facebook, which you can watch in full here, Malan told Ian Ward about the challenges of day-night cricket, where he feels his game is improving and his Test ambitions…
"I wouldn't say I feel established in the England side, but I feel like I've got two or three more games in the bank than I would have had before," said Malan.
"Those games give me a bit of breathing space in terms of lifting a little bit of pressure off me so that I can go out and hopefully perform and play the way I want to play, and need to play to succeed.
"When you've waited so long for your chance you don't want to give it away and start thinking too far ahead; it's a great honour to play for your country and some people get that honour a lot earlier and some people have to work a lot harder and wait longer.
"In my case I was 29 years old and I want to play as long as I can for England."
Malan has 10 Test caps under his belt after making his debut against South Africa last July; in a torrid introduction to the five-day format he made 35 runs in his first four innings, before striking 65 against Windies at Edgbaston.
The left-hander said the upturn in his form this winter was in part due to adapting to the rigours of playing at the highest level.
"It's been nice after the summer I had for England starting off, to score some runs and do it against Australia in Australia and in the T20s as well," he reflected.
"It's nice to show that I can play and to prove to people that the guys that have been around for the last two or three years aren't necessarily the only ones that can score runs for England. It's nice to put pressure on them and to show the world what you can do.
"You have to have the technique and the basics to be able to play against the best bowlers in the world but as with anything, the higher you go the better the wickets and the bowlers get, so it evens things out a bit.
"The bowlers in county cricket are as skilful but maybe not as quick so it tests you in different ways; it tests you mentally, it tests your heart a little bit and it tests your will to actually get through some tough periods.
"When it gets tough you can always take the easy option and it's about trying to make sure you don't do that to give your wicket away, especially when you are new into the team and you're trying your best to cement your place."
Malan says the biggest change in his day-to-day routine has come in his approach to training, which is now more specific and targeted towards nullifying opponents.
"When you just play county cricket you get into the habit of playing, playing, playing," he said.
"You walk into nets and hit 10-15 underarms and you think you're ready to play - you don't really work on your game as much, whereas when you play international cricket you seem to have a lot more time to prepare for series and breakdown your training into practising what you are going to get.
"I definitely tinkered with things before the Ashes. I played around with my technique a little bit. When I started in the summer I felt there were a few things that weren't as smooth as they should have been. Andy Flower pointed out one or two things to me and that helped me quite a lot in the Ashes."
Watch England take on New Zealand in the first of two Test matches live on Sky Sports Cricket from 12am on Thursday, March 22.
