Rocks captain Malan bemoans T20 cricket's modern trend: 'It's not about runs anymore'

Rocks captain and former Proteas Test opener Pieter Malan echoed his dismay at how the game of cricket no longer values his type of batting.

The 33-year-old from Mbombela, who is the elder brother of Proteas limited-overs opener Janneman, has a strike rate of 116.78 to match his 1 635 runs from 52 matches.

Last season, Malan top-scored with a 56-ball 71 in the Cricket South Africa T20 Challenge Final against the Titans.

The innings, which was more than half of the Boland team's final total of 138, was sufficient for them to clinch the title.

Malan finished the tournament as the highest run-maker with 368 runs at 46. It included five 50s at a strike rate of 118.70, but it was Tristan Stubbs who left the biggest impression with his 293 runs being scored at 183.12.

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Malan grudgingly accepted that the way of the T20 world doesn't value solidity, but said he'll try to get cracking a bit more at the top of the order.

"Apparently it's not about runs anymore, it's about strike rates," Malan told News24 Sport at Cricket South Africa's season launch in Potchefstroom on Monday.

"It seems that's what the cricketing world is all about at this moment, so I think I'll be paying a little bit more attention to that.

"It is disappointing that cricket is moving away from context, doing what it takes to win matches and just looking at statistics.

"It is a dangerous trend that I have seen in England because people just play for their stats and not the team.

"The cricket market is valuing strike rates, so that's what I need to pay attention to."

However, Malan's runs at T20 level left him with a sense of satisfaction and the hope that the Rocks, who were