Dawid Malan retired from international cricket on Wednesday, with the batter saying his England career “has not been easy”. Malan signed a 12-month central contract in October and was England’s leading run-scorer in their woeful 50-over World Cup title defence in India in the weeks that followed. But the left-hander, 37 next week, has not played for England since that showpiece tournament.
Yet he was repeatedly criticised for being insufficiently aggressive at the crease in an era of dynamic white-ball hitting. Nevertheless, Malan is just one of two England batsmen, alongside Jos Buttler, to have scored hundreds in all three international formats — Tests, ODIs and T20s.