Devon Malcolm

Malcolm was one of England's few genuinely fast bowlers of the 1990s. Born in Kingston, Jamaica, he settled in England, making his first-class debut for Derbyshire in 1984 and qualifying to play for England in 1987. He played in 40 Test matches for his adopted country, but his short-sightedness, his perceived profligacy with the ball and his undoubted ineptitude with the bat meant that he took part in just ten One Day Internationals.

Malcolm was unlucky to make his first international appearance in the Fifth Test of the 1989 Ashes series, against an Australian cricket team already 3-0 up in the series, and his first day in international cricket ended wicketless. But then, so 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 a good one - 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.

On 20 August 1994, playing for England against South Africa at The Oval, Malcolm was hit on the helmet by a bouncer while batting against Fanie de Villiers. He was incensed by this, and hit back with his greatest spell of international bowling, ripping through the South African batting order to finish with figures of 9-57, at the time the sixth-best innings analysis in the history of Test cricket. His performance was subsequently ranked 91st in Channel 4's 100 Greatest Sporting Moments in 2002. It was also the best bowling analysis, in Test cricket, by an English fast bowler in the 20th Century.

Malcolm's eight-year England career came to a close in the final Test of the 1997 Ashes series at The Oval. His international career thus ended as it had began - in a losing Ashes side - albeit this time on the winning team in the match itself. It was an undistinguished goodbye; Malcolm took just one wicket in the 14 overs he was allowed, and was out without scoring in both innings. Although he took over 100 wickets for his country, his final Test bowling average - over 37, as against under 30 for Derbyshire - told its own story; Malcolm was simply too expensive at this level.

He remained a highly effective bowler in county cricket, however, and in 1998 Malcolm moved to play for Northamptonshire. Two years later moved again, this time to Leicestershire, for whom he played his final first-class match in 2003.

Malcolm was named as one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1995.

Having retired from the first-class game Malcolm continues to ply his trade for Dunstall Cricket Club in the Derbyshire Premier League.

External link

• [Cricinfo page on Devon Malcolm]
• [List of Best Bowling Figures in a Test Match Innings]

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