Dawid Malan calls England's central contract system 'slightly strange' after dropping to incremental deal
Dawid Malan: 'It seems heavily led towards red-ball cricket. Hopefully white-ball cricket can get recognised as Test match cricket does. If you're ranked top-five in the world for three years, you'd hope you get recognised with a white-ball contract but that's not how it works"
Thursday 13 October 2022 13:17, UK
Dawid Malan has branded England's latest batch of central contracts as "slightly strange" after he was dropped to an incremental deal amid a focus on Test cricket.
Malan has lost his full contract after being axed from the Test side following the 4-0 Ashes defeat over the winter - but he remains a key part of the T20 team, scoring 82 from 49 balls in Canberra on Wednesday as England clinched a series win over Australia.
Only three of the 18 players handed complete central contracts by the ECB on Tuesday - white-ball skipper Jos Buttler, plus spinners Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid - appear out of the Test picture at the moment, while T20 regular Chris Jordan was not handed a deal of any description for 2022-23.
Malan says he has spoken to England managing director of men's cricket, Rob Key, about the situation.
- Liam Livingstone, Ben Foakes awarded full England central contracts
- Dawid Malan helps England to T20I series win over Australia
"There's a slightly strange system with the contracts," he said. "It seems heavily led towards red-ball cricket. Hopefully white-ball cricket can get recognised as Test match cricket does.
"We'd like to be rewarded for our performances for England, that's what contracts are for, and if you're ranked top-five in the world for three years, you'd hope you get recognised with a white-ball contract but that's not how it works.
"You have players here who are the leading wicket-takers in the history of the game [Jordan is England's highest T20 wicket-taker] who don't have a contract but those are decisions I don't make.
"Keysie [Rob Key] and I have had that chat already. There's nothing you can do about it. It's still an honour to play for England and I want to try to help win as many games as I can."
Malan: I've proved my point a hell of a lot
Malan was dropped down the order to No 7 during England's victory in the first T20 international against Australia in Perth after the side made a rapid start through openers Buttler and Alex Hales.
But the left-hander was back at his customary spot of No 3 in the second game, with his 14th T20I half-century helping his team clinch successive eight-run wins.
The 35-year-old added: "I feel like I've proved my point a hell of a lot before.
"Ultimately, the way this team is balanced, if we get to a certain stage in the game, I think everyone's very flexible in the way they're going to bat.
"It was the same at the last World Cup, we chop and change depending on whether we want a certain player in at a certain time, especially if we get a good start. As soon as we get a good start, the whole team pretty much pads up and waits for a nod."
On Malan, team-mate Moeen Ali said: "People don't give him the credit because we have such explosive players but the guy's a special player.
"I feel people are on his back at times for no reason. He always scores runs and he scores them quickly. He's a great player, underestimated massively."
Our live blog of England's third T20 international against Australia, in Canberra, will get under way at 8.45am on Friday ahead of a 9.10am start.
Watch the T20 World Cup live on Sky Sports from Sunday. England's first game is against Afghanistan on Saturday, October 22, with build-up starting at 11.30am ahead of a midday start.
