Dawid Johannes Malan ( ; born 3 September 1987) is an English cricketer who plays internationally for England in all formats. In domestic cricket, he represents Yorkshire, having previously played for Middlesex, and has played in multiple Twenty20 leagues, including for Punjab Kings in the Indian Premier League.
Malan made his Test and Twenty20 International (T20I) debuts in 2017, and his One Day International (ODI) debuts in 2019. In 2020, his rating in the ICC Men's Player Rankings hit 915, which remains the record high in the format. He was part of the England team that won the 2022 T20 World Cup.
Malan plays as a left-handed top-order batter and occasional legbreak bowler. He is one of only four Englishmen to score a T20I century.
Early life and education
Malan was born in Roehampton, London. At the age of seven he and his family moved to South Africa, where he subsequently attended Paarl Boys' High School. Shortly after making his first class debut for Boland, he joined Middlesex, where he stayed for over a decade. He is also a supporter of Liverpool F.C.
His father, Dawid Malan, Sr., represented Western Province B, Northern Transvaal B and Teddington, as a right-handed batter and a right-arm fast-medium bowler. His brother, Charl Malan, also played first-class cricket for Loughborough MCCU, whilst his sister, Liné, was an international field hockey player for South Africa.
Domestic career
Malan is a left-handed batter and occasional leg-spin bowler who originally represented Boland in South Africa (2005/2006 season) and the MCC Young Cricketers in 2006. He joined Middlesex on 7 July 2006 and made his first XI debut in a Twenty20 Cup tie versus Surrey at The Oval on the same day.
In 2007 Malan was the top run scorer in the Second XI Championship with 969 runs at 51.00. He made his first-class debut for Middlesex in June 2008, scoring 132 not out. On 8 July 2008, Malan hit the 24th century in the history of the Twenty20 Cup, compiling 103 off 54 balls in the quarter-final against the Lancashire Lightning. This made him the first player to score a century batting at number six in a T20 match and he held the record for the highest score at the position until July 2018.
Malan played List-A domestic cricket for Prime Doleshwar Sporting Club in the Dhaka Premier League of Bangladesh for two seasons from 2013 to 2015, contributing with both bat and ball.
Malan was appointed as Middlesex captain across all three formats before the start of the 2018 season. He stepped down following the 2019 season and in November 2019, he signed a four-year contract to play for Yorkshire from the 2020 season. In August 2020, in the third round of matches in the 2020 Bob Willis Trophy, Malan scored his maiden double century in first-class cricket, with 219 runs.
International career
Malan was named in England's Twenty20 International (T20I) squad for their home series against South Africa in June 2017. He made 78 on his debut, on 25 June 2017, with England winning the match and Malan adjudged 'man of the match' for his batting performance. He was added to England's Test squad, ahead of the third Test against South Africa, and made his Test debut on 27 July 2017 as a number 5 batsman. In the first innings, he made 1 before being bowled out by a yorker from Kagiso Rabada; in the second innings he was dismissed for 10. He also failed to impress in his second Test, raising questions over his Test future. However, Malan kept his place for the series against the West Indies and scored his maiden Test 50, helping England to win their first day-night Test.
Malan was selected for the winter tours to Australia and New Zealand, during the 3rd Ashes Test at the WACA in December 2017, Malan scored his first Test century: his 100 was the first century of the series from the England team. Malan continued his good form in T20Is on the tour, adding another three half-centuries in the four games he played in the Trans-Tasman Tri-Series, though this was not enough to see him keep his place in the team once rested players were recalled during the following English summer. He did retain his place for the two Tests against Pakistan and the first Test against India that summer, but was dropped after a poor run of form.
Malan was added to England's One Day International (ODI) squad for their one-off match against Ireland on 3 May 2019. He made 24 runs on his ODI debut for England in the match, as a number of their World Cup squad were rested.