Devon Malcolm

At 61 years old, Devon Malcolm has this physical status:

Domestic career

Malcolm was one of England's very few true fast bowlers of the 1990s. Born in Kingston, Jamaica, he immigrated to Sheffield in 1979 and studied at Richmond College.

Malcolm started playing with Derbyshire in 1984 and was with the county until 1997. Highlights from his time in Derbyshire include the county's victories in the Refuge Assurance League in 1990 and the Benson and Hedges Cup in 1993, with Malcolm winning 5-23 against Northamptonshire in the semi-finals. Malcolm continued to bowle in county cricket into the 1980s, and he went to play for Northamptonshire. He returned to Leicestershire, this time for his final first-class match in 2003. Malcolm took over 60 wickets and made one 10-wicket haul in his last season. He was still one of the fastest bowlers in the country towards the end of his career, winning at 38 years old, the 2001 C&G Trophy's fastest delivery was at 89.5 mph. When he was with Leicestershire, he took 1,000 first-class wickets.

International career

Malcolm's chance to play for England came as several members of the then-current Test team revealed their intention to take part in a resistance tour to South Africa during the 1989 Ashes series, effectively ending their chances for the remainder of the series. He was lucky to play in the fifth Test against an Australia national cricket team who was still 3–0 up in the series, but his first day in international cricket was tragic, as did all his teammates, for this was the occasion when Mark Taylor and Geoff Marsh batted together unbeaten throughout the first day. Malcolm finally managed his first scalp at this level on the second day of the match, and it was that of Steve Waugh for a duck, but it made no difference to the outcome. Australia defeated England by an innings. Malcolm's two innings at the bottom of the order included a four and a six, which may have sparked faulty expectations regarding his batting skills. In the 1994–1995 tour of Australia, Shane Warne scored his highest Test score of 29 off only 18 balls.

Malcolm made a big difference on the West Indies tour in 1989/90, taking five wickets and running out Gordon Greenidge at Sabina Park in Jamaica, England's first victory over the West Indies in a test match in sixteen years. After an abbreviated Second Test, he then took ten wickets in the Third Test and returned as England's best wicket-taking bowler of the trip with a total of nineteen scalps in four Tests. Despite England's losing this series, Malcolm was also the top wicket-taker as he helped England defeat New Zealand in their next series, taking two five-wicket hauls. England defeated the Test series for the first time in five years, with Malcolm being man of the match.

Malcolm went on tour of Australia and New Zealand in the winter. Although England lost the Ashes series, Malcolm received some praise, according to the Wisden study of the tour: "Understanding Russell's analysis, it was Malcolm who made the biggest leap, bowling with speed and passion, and he may have taken the Sydney Test if Gooch had allowed him an early opportunity to attack Rackemann." Malcolm was still playing in Leeds after England's first Test victory over the West Indies in 22 years, but his wickets had dried up and he was replaced by David Lawrence. Malcolm was recalled to the England team in 1992 after a horrific fall in Lawrence.

Malcolm continued to have intermittent success for England thereafter, but the team suffered with inconsistency and sometimes with assignment for inappropriate assignments. For instance, after being a five-wicket haul for England against Pakistan at The Oval in 1992, he was chosen for a winter tour of India and Sri Lanka and was selected for three of the four Tests. He struggled in spin-friendly weather, and although he did take his best one-day international figures on this tour, England lost the Tests heavily and he was suspended. England defeated Australia in their first Test against Australia since 1986, with Recalls of the final Test taking six wickets. On this occasion, Steve Waugh, one of Malcolm's victims and one of Australia's top Test cricketers, said "We were always amazed" when someone bowled it, and then the worst over the next over, but it's not what you want as a batsman." The England selectors disagreed, however, and Malcolm was subsequently dismissed again.

Malcolm was bitten by a bouncer while batting at number 11 against bowler Fanie de Villiers on August 20, 1994. He was sent to play for England against South Africa also at The Oval. He was riled by this, so he switched to the South African slip cordon and exclaiming the now-famous phrase "You guys are history." South Africa's second innings was then decimated by Malcolm in an amazing and remarkably fast fast bowling display, taking nine wickets for only 57 runs, the ninth-best bowling figures in an innings in Test cricket as of May 2022.

It was during winter Malcom played in the 1994-5 Ashes series, assisting England in their victory in the fourth test at Adelaide, taking seven wickets in the match and dismissing Waugh once more. The series in England has been postponed, however. Malcolm will never finish on the winning side of an Ashes series like many England players of his time.

When a July 1995 article in the Wisden Cricket Monthly challenged the contributions of players of foreign origin to the England cricket team, Malcolm sought and received legal assistance in October 1995. Malcolm and Gladstone Small by politician Norman Tebbit after the 1990 victory at Sabina Park inspired typecasting, according to subsequent recollection. Malcolm, along with an England and then Derbyshire colleague, issued writs of defamation; Malcolm accepted libel compensation through the High Court, but DeFreitas settled outside of court.

During the following series against South Africa between 1995 and 1996, Malcolm's relationship with then England team manager Ray Illingworth became strained and culminated in a feud. He was also reported to have differences with England's then bowling coach, Peter Lever. Malcolm bowled poor with the second new ball in the final Test, which allowed Dave Richardson and Paul Adams to add 73 runs for the last wicket. Malcolm's "no cricket brain" insinuation has been cited as an example of institutional racism in cricket.

Malcolm played his last Test for England against Australia in 1997, also at the Oval, where he took more Test wickets than any other.

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