Dawid Malan will wear Gloucestershire colours in the 2026 and 2027 Vitality Blast after agreeing a two-season contract with the Bristol club.
The 38-year-old left-hander parted ways with Yorkshire last week, a mutual decision that ended a five-year stint in which he topped their Blast run charts in 2023 and 2024 and captained the side this summer. Before that he spent 13 seasons at Middlesex, helping them lift the 2008 Championship title.
Malan stepped away from international duty following the 2023 ODI World Cup in India, closing a career that brought eight centuries across the formats. He was, for a spell, the No.1-ranked T20I batter and remains the quickest man to 1,000 T20I runs – 24 innings. His England memories also include a role in the 2022 T20 World Cup campaign, though injury ruled him out of the final, and an Ashes hundred in Perth back in 2017-18.
Short-form work continues to flow. Earlier this year he won the Bangladesh Premier League with Fortune Barishal and is currently turning out in Nepal. A move to Gloucestershire, Blast winners in 2024, keeps him in front-line county cricket and reunites him with two familiar faces: director of cricket Jon Lewis and head coach Mark Alleyne, both of whom he encountered in England camps.
“Gloucestershire are a team with real ambition to challenge for the T20 Blast next season, and I am pleased and excited to be joining the club,” Malan said.
“You only have to speak to Jon Lewis and Mark Alleyne to understand the scale of their ambition. They are putting together a strong squad, and I am eager to contribute.
“I have worked with both of them in the England set-up – they are positive, professional people – and it will be great to join them and the players, and to help Gloucestershire challenge for titles.”
Lewis, appointed earlier this year after leaving the England Women’s job, explained why the county moved quickly: “Players of this calibre are rarely available in the domestic game, so when we became aware that Dawid might be available to come to Bristol, we moved quickly because we knew he’d be a fantastic addition to our T20 squad.
“I know Dawid well from my time with the England Men’s team and I’m confident he’ll be a great fit for our dressing room. He’s a good person, an excellent professional and someone who will be brilliant to have around the place.
“His record speaks for itself. He was the leading T20 run-scorer for Yorkshire in the North Group last year and, as many supporters will know, has previously been the world’s number one-ranked T20 batter. Bringing someone with that level of quality, experience and global pedigree into our Vitality Blast squad is a huge coup for Gloucestershire.
“We’re excited to see him play a major role in what we hope will be a successful season at the Seat Unique Stadium.”
With Malan’s know-how added to a squad already capable of lifting silverware, Gloucestershire’s short-form prospects look stronger. Yet, as ever, runs on the board and death-overs discipline will decide if winter optimism becomes summer success.
