Devon Malcolm

Malcolm was one of England's very few genuinely fast bowlers of the 1990s. Born in Kingston, Jamaica,[4] he emigrated to Sheffield in 1979 and studied there at Richmond College.[5]

He remained a highly effective bowler in county cricket, however, and in 1998 Malcolm moved to play for Northamptonshire. Two years later he moved again, this time to Leicestershire, for whom he played his final first-class match in 2003. In his final season Malcolm claimed over 60 wickets and achieved one 10-wicket haul.[6] He was still one of quickest bowlers in the country towards the end of his career, winning aged 38 the challenge for bowling the fastest delivery in the 2001 C&G Trophy at a speed of 89.5mph.[7] He passed 1,000 first-class wickets while with Leicestershire.[8]

Malcolm's chance to play for England came when several members of the then current Test team announced their intention to take part in a rebel tour to South Africa during the 1989 Ashes series, thereby disqualifying themselves from selection for the rest of the series.[1] He was lucky to make his first international appearance in the Fifth Test against an Australian cricket team already 3–0 up in the series, though his first day in international cricket ended wicketless, as did all his team-mates, for this was the occasion on which Mark Taylor and Geoff Marsh batted together unbeaten throughout the first day. On the second day of the match, Malcolm finally managed his first scalp at this level, and it was that of Steve Waugh for a duck – although it made little difference to the outcome, and Australia crushed England by an innings. Malcolm scored 14 runs in his two innings at the bottom of the order, including a four and a six, which perhaps raised false hopes as to his batting ability. He also scored his top Test score of 29 off only 18 balls in the 1994–1995 tour of Australia, which included three fours and two successive sixes off Shane Warne.[9]

On the West Indies tour in 1989/90, Malcolm made a major impact, taking five wickets and running out Gordon Greenidge as England won the First Test, their first victory against the West Indies in a test match for sixteen years.[10] After an abandoned Second Test he then took ten wickets in the Third Test and, with a total of nineteen scalps in four Tests, returned as England's leading wicket-taking bowler of the trip.[1] Although England narrowly lost this series, Malcolm was also top wicket-taker as he then helped England to win their next series against New Zealand, taking two five-wicket hauls.

Malcolm continued to have intermittent success for England thereafter but struggled with inconsistency, and sometimes with selection for inappropriate assignments. For instance, after taking a five-wicket haul for England against Pakistan at The Oval in 1992, he was selected for a winter tour of India and Sri Lanka and included in the team for three of the four Tests. He struggled in spin-friendly conditions, England lost of all the tests heavily, and he was dropped. In contrast, Steve Waugh, Malcolm’s first Test wicket, and one of Australia’s greatest Test cricketers, said in retrospect: "We were always amazed every time we played England and Devon Malcolm's name wasn't on the team sheet … He could bowl the quickest over you ever faced and then the worst over the next over, but as a batsman, that's not what you want - you want consistency when someone's bowling at you, so you could prepare for what's happening.”[11]

On 20 August 1994, recalled to play for England against South Africa also at The Oval, Malcolm was hit on the helmet by a bouncer while batting at number 11 against bowler Fanie de Villiers. He was incensed by this, turning to the South African slip cordon and exclaiming the now famous words "You guys are history".[12] South Africa's second innings was then destroyed by Malcolm in an outstanding and extremely hostile display of accurate fast bowling, taking nine wickets for only 57 runs, the eighth-best bowling figures in an innings in the entire history of Test cricket as of 2021.

Malcolm's relationship with the then England team manager Ray Illingworth became strained and culminated in a row during the following series against South Africa in 1995–96.[13] He was also reported to have had disagreements with England's then bowling coach, Peter Lever.[6] Malcolm bowled poorly with the second new ball in the final Test, which allowed Dave Richardson and Paul Adams to add 73 for the last wicket.[9]

Malcolm played his last Test for England against Australia in 1997.

Malcolm runs a company that sells cricket equipment to schools and clubs around the world.DEM Sports

• Devon Malcolm at ESPNcricinfo
• Sunday Times article 23 August, 2009