Ashes 2017: Dawid Malan says England are determined to go down swinging

The squad is still united, the coaching staff are still motivated and the belief remains that Australia can be beaten

Dawid Malan is determined to avoid another whitewash Down Under (Getty)

“We hold our hands up,” Dawid Malan says. “Where we’ve been bad, where we need to improve. No-one’s sitting in there feeling sorry for themselves or blaming people. The guys are already talking about Melbourne, and how we desperately want to get our pride back.”

No blame. No excuses. England are deservedly 3-0 down in the Ashes, and even for one of their best performers, it has not been a performance they can sugar-coat. The off-field shenanigans have been regrettable; the on-field displays have been reprehensible. But the good news is this: they still have two chances to put things right.

More good news: from the outside, at least, there does not seem to be the sort of impending implosion that utterly wrecked the last Ashes tour four years ago. The squad is still united, the coaching staff are still motivated and the belief remains that Australia can be beaten. They might still get walloped 5-0, of course. But England are determined to go down swinging.

Malan, who scored his maiden Test century at Perth and followed it up with a fine half-century in the second innings, is clear and concise about how Australia need to be tackled. “I personally believe we need to be aggressive with these guys as they are with us,” he says. “If you ever take your foot off the gas with these blokes, they seem to really dominate.

“It showed at Adelaide when we were aggressive under lights in their second innings. We attacked, and they fell away. It doesn’t mean you have to chirp, it doesn’t mean you have to get in people’s faces. But when you bat, look to score runs. When you bowl, look to take wickets. Don’t take your foot off and let them get into the game.”

For Malan, who waited almost a decade for his Test debut, it has been a tour of qualified successes. He scraped into the squad, and a poor series would almost certainly have seen him jettisoned without recall. So he did his homework. He spoke to some of his former Middlesex team-mates - Chris Rogers, Adam Voges - to get an insight into how to play in Australian conditions.

He explored potential scoring options, forensically examined his own technique. “I think my game suits these types of wickets,” he says. I knew I’d have to leave really well, with the amount of pace and bounce. If you leave well it means they come to you, which gives you opportunities to score.”


 Malan has been one of the bright spots of a lost tour 
 (AAP/PA Images)

Even after making an Ashes hundred, Malan is harsh on himself. His soft dismissal in the first innings, trying to hit the spin of Nathan Lyon over the top, precipitated England’s collapse from 368-4 to 403 all out, a collapse that ultimately cost them the match. “I didn’t commit,” he laments. “I tried to chip one, instead of committing to it like I’d committed to every other shot in that innings.”

Nor is he at all convinced that his place in the side is safe. “I don’t think there’s any time when your place is secure, or you’re not two or three games from missing out again,” he says. “You score runs in one game and suddenly everyone thinks you’ve made it.

“But you still want to be as consistent as you can. It’s disappointing not to win the game after scoring a 100. I think I’ve shown that I can play at this level, especially out here in Australia which is a tough place to tour. But I’m disappointed I didn’t push on in both innings.”


 Malan is determined that England won't go down without a fight 
 (Getty)

What Malan does have now is the knowledge that he can play at his level: a knowledge that until proven, was no more and no less than simple faith. “I wouldn’t have got on the plane if I didn’t think I could come and play,” he says. “It’s easy to think that, and easy for other people to tell you that you can play at this level. But you need to score the runs to believe in yourself.”

And so despite its outcome, the Ashes 2017-18 will be a series that Malan will come to reflect on with great pride. “I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it,” he says. “There have obviously been a few silly things that have happened off the field which put the tour in a bit of a bad place.

“But - and this is not just me saying this - the team spirit is probably the best I’ve ever played in. We’ve lost 3-0, and the boys are extremely disappointed, but Chris Woakes did 35 miles in the field according to the GPS. As long as guys are giving 100 per cent and not shying away, the team spirit will always be good."