Dawid Malan, former top-ranked T20 batter, retires from England cricket duty

LONDON — Dawid Malan, the former top-ranked T20 batter who scored centuries for England in all formats, has announced his retirement from the international arena.

The 36-year-old Malan told British newspaper The Times of London that he exceeded expectations with his success in the white-ball game but was disappointed that he couldn’t handle the intensity of test cricket.

Malan, a top-order batter, played 22 tests as well as 30 ODIs and 62 T20 internationals. It was in the T20 game where he excelled, becoming No. 1 in the batting rankings in 2020 and winning the World Cup in 2020.

Malan was left out of the squad for the upcoming white-ball series against Australia and hasn’t played for England in any format since the 50-over World Cup last year.

It was his inability to forge a career as a test batter that leaves him with most regrets.

“I took all three formats extremely seriously but the intensity of test cricket was something else — five days plus the days building up,” Malan told the Times. “I’m a big trainer; I love hitting lots of balls and I’d train hard in the build-up, and then the days were long and intense. You can’t switch off.

“I found it very mentally draining, especially the long test series that I played, where my performances dropped off from the third or fourth test onwards.”