England batsman Dawid Malan joins Yorkshire from Middlesex
"This feels like the right time to embrace a new challenge. I am excited by the prospect of joining Yorkshire, one of the great county clubs in English cricket"
Wednesday 6 November 2019 09:44, UK
England batsman Dawid Malan has left Middlesex to join Yorkshire on a four-year contract.
The 32-year-old - currently part of England's T20I squad in New Zealand - stepped down as Middlesex captain last season after the club failed to achieve promotion in the Specsavers County Championship.
Malan, who made his Middlesex debut in 2006, has now opted for a "new challenge" at Yorkshire, which will see him play Division One County Championship cricket once again.
"I have had 13 happy and successful seasons with Middlesex and will always be grateful to the staff, players and supporters for their encouragement over the years," said Malan, who has hit over 11,000 first-class runs and was named Middlesex's player of the year in 2019.
"However, this feels like the right time to embrace a new challenge and I am excited by the prospect of joining Yorkshire, one of the great county clubs in English cricket.
"I am looking forward to moving to Leeds, and starting a new chapter of my career."
Yorkshire coach Andrew Gale said: "It is a fantastic signing for us. As soon as we realised that Dawid had the potential to leave Middlesex, he was a player that we always wanted to speak to. He fits the mould of what we are looking for.
"It is fair to say that we have lacked consistency with the bat for a number of years. We have looked at bringing people in for a while, but it had to fit the right mould for us.
"We needed somebody with experience and Dawid has got Test experience. Not so long ago, we were watching him score runs for England in the Ashes.
"Hopefully, with his experience, it will give us a bit more consistency with he bat."
Malan scored four half-centuries in his first five T20Is for England, while he also struck his first Test century against Australia at Perth during the 2017-18 Ashes series.
Angus Fraser, Middlesex's managing director of cricket, added: "Dawid has been an invaluable member of the team for 13 seasons, scoring runs consistently across all three formats. His loyalty and commitment to Middlesex has been without question.
"It is sad that he has now decided to continue his career elsewhere, but he will always be recognised as a modern Middlesex great and everyone associated with the club will wish him every success in the future."
