The Ashes: England’s Dawid Malan admits fear he’d ‘never play a Test again’ after heroics

Dawid Malan admitted he thought his Test career was over before breathing life into what had already appeared a doomed Ashes challenge.

Malan, recalled against India last summer after a three-year absence from Test cricket, made an unbeaten 80 in an unbroken stand of 159 with Joe Root at the Gabba that left England just 58 runs behind Australia with eight second innings wickets in hand.

Then the man who turned himself into the highest ranked Twenty20 batter in the world after his Test rejection said he had given up on his international red-ball hopes.

England’s Dawid Malan thought he’d ‘never play a Test again’ following his three-year absence

‘I thought I would never play another Test again,’ said Malan after England’s third day fightback. 

‘When Rooty and I were on similar scores and the Barmy Army were singing I said to him “I’ve really missed this. I’ve missed someone trying to blow my head off all the time with my adrenalin going.” 

‘Test cricket is the pinnacle so I’m so proud to be standing out there again wearing an England shirt.’

Malan, 34, looked to have become a staple of the England Test side when he made a century in the last away Ashes in Perth four years ago but he was gone after a run of low scores the following summer, with then national selector Ed Smith saying he was only suited to overseas conditions.

Malan left Middlesex for Yorkshire for the fresh start that eventually led to a Test recall once Dom Sibley and Zak Crawley had fallen by the wayside ahead of this big series.

Malan (left) and Joe Root (right) mounted a serious fightback on the third day of the Ashes

‘You can do as well as you want in Twenty20 or 50-over cricket but you’re judged a lot by your Test career. So to come to Australia on bouncy wickets against quality fast bowlers is the real test,’ Malan said.

‘The Ashes is the biggest series in our calendar so to come out here and get some runs against a pretty good attack is satisfying but the job isn’t done yet. Hopefully we can get big hundreds that would change the game.’

At the very least Root, who went past Michael Vaughan’s England record for most Test runs in a calendar year in his unbeaten 86, and Malan have salvaged English pride and demonstrated that this Ashes might not be so one-sided after all by taking the attack to an Australian attack hit by the absence for much of the day of Josh Hazlewood.

And Malan knows how much it means for England to be competitive after two horrible days at the Gabba to start this huge series had already left the majority of supporters with a sense of impending doom.

Malan is unbeaten on 80 and could repeat his hundred from England’s last tour down under

‘It was vitally important,’ he said of his positive and productive partnership with his captain after the early second innings departures of Rory Burns and Haseeb Hameed had left England facing a three-day rout. 

‘Our first innings was obviously a disappointment and we hold our hands up that we weren’t good enough whether the wicket did a little bit or not,’ said Malan. 

‘We’re definitely better than getting bowled out for 147. So for us to come in and do that after a day and a half of hard fielding was fantastic but it’s only half the job done. We need another 250-300 runs tomorrow to put ourselves in a good position. 

‘The wicket has definitely changed since we batted first on it, it’s hardened up and there’s a few more divots but that second new ball will be crucial for them to counter that. It’s still playing nicely but there’s slightly uneven bounce.’