Ben Gardner argues that, with Dawid Malan in a rare patch of poor form, now is the time for England to figure out who is next in line to bat at No.3 in T20Is.

Yes, it’s that time again. At some point in every England T20I series, and often at several points, Dawid Malan must be discussed, either because he’s silenced his doubters again or because those murmurs of discontent are rising anew. Right now it’s the latter, with the No.3 having made 7 off 14 and 4 off 5 in his two innings so far, as sure a sign as any that he’ll blast a hundred in the third game against Sri Lanka and turn the conversation once more.

It’s a debate that has been aired on so many occasions that rehashing it will do little to convince anyone. Battle lines have been drawn, arguments hardened and polished. One side will talk of intent, of a propensity to start slow that could hurt England at just the wrong moment. They will also point to a perceived weakness against spin, Malan being unproven in the conditions in which the T20 World Cup will be played, and a domestic record far below that put up in a smaller sample size in international cricket.

The other have raw numbers and rankings in their corner, as well as a host of match-winning knocks for England, as well as the unshakeable feeling that performances for your country must matter. If you do enough to get into the side in the first place, and then do well when you’re there, then you stay in the team. That’s how this works.

There are merits to both positions, and much of it is moot anyway, since it’s been clear for a while that the England management are in the latter camp, and that’s all that matters. It’s hardly an outrage, and it may yet pay off. The risk is that Malan will eat up balls making a run-a-ball start in a knockout game and harm England’s chances, but the potential reward is him kicking on to a score that wins the match by itself. Still, it’s hard not to wonder if there’s a middle ground being missed, a way for Malan to still be England’s first-choice but for them to know who their second and third in line are too.

Each of England’s last two global tournament campaigns have seen plans changed partway through. In the Champions Trophy, Jason Roy’s poor form saw him axed for the semi-final, with Jonny Bairstow coming in and making 43 in a chastening defeat. In the World Cup, Jofra Archer’s emergence meant, at first, that a seamer was squeezed out, and then that the out-of-form Moeen Ali, an ever-present in the years leading up to the tournament, was left on the sidelines, with England fielding just one spinner for their last four games, all won as they marched to glory.

Neither of those moves backfired, but the point is, such decisions might have to be made, and it would be foolish of England to think they can get lucky with a makeshift solution a third time. Malan’s recent poor run of form – since making 99* in the third T20I against South Africa, he averages 23.38 at a strike-rate of 111.59 – might not be enough for England to move on from him entirely, but it should prompt them to think ‘what if?’

A short, sharp T20 World Cup offers much less margin for error than the 2019 50-over event did – one stumble could be costly, two would be deadly. If Malan does struggle early on, England should know who is next in. There are plenty of options. Moeen Ali is back in form with bat and ball, Ben Stokes is one of the many seemingly best suited to batting at the top of the order, Joe Root remains England’s most technically proficient player – a valuable trait in the knockouts against an attack with no weak links – and then there’s Alex Hales.

Contingency planning has rarely been England’s strong suit, and the squads for both series against Sri Lanka are concerningly staid. It’s become a cliche to point to Liam Dawson’s nine white-ball caps as beggaring belief, but it is revealing that ostensibly England’s third-best limited-overs spinner for half a decade has been given so little game time. Four more low-stakes T20s against Sri Lanka presents a perfect chance for experimentation, and at least some of that must be geared towards the No.3 slot

Still, while England’s reluctance to rotate in white-ball cricket goes beyond Malan, it’s also most pressing when it comes to him. If he is out of form, it would hurt England more than any other player losing touch. A Jason Roy failure, usually consuming few balls for a low score, hardly harms the cause, whereas a middling score from Malan does. When in nick, England have concluded he is in their best XI. The question is, do they know where to turn if he isn’t?

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