‘Less cricket, higher intensity’: Dawid Malan backs ECB’s cuts to county game

Dawid Malan, on his way to a quickfire 36 in England’s fifth T20 against Pakistan on Wednesday, says county cricket ‘becomes like you’re going through the motions’. Photograph: KM Chaudary/AP

The England and Yorkshire batter Dawid Malan has given his unequivocal support to the England and Wales Cricket Board’s proposal to reduce the number of county championship matches.

“In county cricket you just go from one game to the next and it becomes like you’re going through the motions,” Malan said. “England have only been No 1 in the world rankings in Test cricket for a small period of time.” While England has produced “some world class players” in recent years, he added, “we can’t argue that the county system is working if we’ve only been No 1 in the world for such a short period.”