Middlesex batting must improve – Malan
Batsman Dawid Malan says Middlesex must score more runs if they are to make a serious challenge for the County Championship this year.
Middlesex begin their 2014 campaign on Sunday with a trip to Sussex, looking to improve on last season’s fifth-place.
Malan, who averaged just 30 with the bat last season, admitted the middle order needed to be more consistent after a ‘pretty disappointing’ 2013.
He told West London Sport: “Apart from Bucky [Chris Rogers] and Robbo [Sam Robson], the rest of us batsmen were pretty disappointing last year.
“If you look at the stats last year, myself and [Joe] Denly didn’t perform as well as we should have so hopefully we can turn that around this season.
“I think at times Dexy [Neil Dexter] played exceptionally well but the rest of us didn’t really put our hands up when we needed to. Hopefully this year the middle order can be more consistent.
“The addition of [Eoin] Morgan, pushing for a Test place, will be extremely helpful.
“We’ve got players to cover all bases – guys pushing to play for England, guys who have played for England and Australia, we’ve probably got everything that we need.
“We just need to perform as a team to get the results we all know that we can achieve.”
Middlesex were hampered by injuries to fast bowlers James Harris and Toby Roland-Jones last season.
But with the pair now fully fit, and paceman Steve Finn looking to prove a point having been discarded by England, Malan is excited by the variety in the Middlesex attack.
He said: “Finny on his day is probably the quickest bowler in the country, apart from Tymal Mills at Essex, we’ve got Tim Murtagh, the wily old dog who just puts the ball on a length and seems to get life out of any wicket he bowls on, and then you’ve got the two exciting prospects in Roland-Jones and Harris who take wickets for fun when they’re bowling well.”
Middlesex director of cricket Angus Fraser said small improvements needed to be made across the board to challenge for the Championship.
He said: “Last year was a nearly year for us. You just hope you can improve on that, make a more prolonged challenge for the Championship and get through to the knockout stages of the white ball competitions.
“We’ve got a pretty simple gameplan in four-day cricket, which is to get 350, bowl with discipline and take your catches. You then break that down and it comes down to individual performances.”
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