Editing Devon Malcolm

{{Short description|English cricketer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2022}}
{{Infobox cricketer
 |                name = Devon Malcolm
 |               image = Devon_Malcolm.jpg
 |             country = England
 |            fullname = Devon Eugene Malcolm
 |          birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1963|2|22|df=yes}}
 |         birth_place = [[Kingston, Jamaica|Kingston]], [[Jamaica]]
 |              height = 189 cm
 |             batting = Right-handed
 |             bowling = Right arm [[Fast bowling|fast]]
 |                role = [[Bowling (cricket)|Bowler]]
 |       international = true
 |   internationalspan = 1989–1997
 |       testdebutdate = 10 August
 |       testdebutyear = 1989
 |    testdebutagainst = Australia
 |             testcap = 539
 |        lasttestdate = 23 August
 |        lasttestyear = 1997
 |     lasttestagainst = Australia
 |        odidebutdate = 25 May
 |        odidebutyear = 1990
 |     odidebutagainst = New Zealand
 |              odicap = 107
 |         lastodidate = 16 February
 |         lastodiyear = 1994
 |      lastodiagainst = West Indies
 |               club1 = [[Derbyshire County Cricket Club|Derbyshire]]
 |               year1 = 1984–1997
 |               club2 = [[Northamptonshire County Cricket Club|Northamptonshire]]
 |               year2 = 1998–2000
 |               club3 = [[Leicestershire County Cricket Club|Leicestershire]]
 |               year3 = 2001–2003
 |             columns = 4
 |             column1 = [[Test cricket|Test]]
 |            matches1 = 40
 |               runs1 = 236
 |            bat avg1 = 6.05
 |           100s/50s1 = 0/0
 |          top score1 = 29
 |         deliveries1 = 8,480
 |            wickets1 = 128
 |           bowl avg1 = 37.09
 |            fivefor1 = 5
 |             tenfor1 = 2
 |       best bowling1 = 9/57
 |  catches/stumpings1 = 7/–
 |             column2 = [[One Day International|ODI]]
 |            matches2 = 10
 |               runs2 = 9
 |            bat avg2 = 3.00
 |           100s/50s2 = 0/0
 |          top score2 = 4
 |         deliveries2 = 526
 |            wickets2 = 16
 |           bowl avg2 = 25.25
 |            fivefor2 = 0
 |             tenfor2 = 0
 |       best bowling2 = 3/40
 |  catches/stumpings2 = 1/–
 |             column3 = [[First-class cricket|FC]]
 |            matches3 = 304
 |               runs3 = 1,985
 |            bat avg3 = 7.84
 |           100s/50s3 = 0/2
 |          top score3 = 51
 |         deliveries3 = 53,284
 |            wickets3 = 1,054
 |           bowl avg3 = 30.33
 |            fivefor3 = 46
 |             tenfor3 = 9
 |       best bowling3 = 9/57
 |  catches/stumpings3 = 45/–
 |             column4 = [[List A cricket|LA]]
 |            matches4 = 185
 |               runs4 = 313
 |            bat avg4 = 5.21
 |           100s/50s4 = 0/0
 |          top score4 = 42
 |         deliveries4 = 8,982
 |            wickets4 = 249
 |           bowl avg4 = 27.61
 |            fivefor4 = 2
 |             tenfor4 = 0
 |       best bowling4 = 7/35
 |  catches/stumpings4 = 21/–
 |                date = 11 November
 |                year = 2009
 |              source = http://content.cricinfo.com/england/content/player/16885.html Cricinfo
}}

'''Devon Eugene Malcolm''' (born 22 February 1963)<ref name="Cap">{{cite book |title=If The Cap Fits |last=Bateman |first=Colin |year=1993 |publisher=Tony Williams Publications |isbn=1-869833-21-X |page=115 }}<!--|access-date=25 April 2011--></ref> is a Jamaican-born English former cricketer. Born in [[Kingston, Jamaica]], Malcolm played in 40 [[Test cricket|Test matches]] and 10 [[One Day International]]s for the [[England cricket team]].

Malcolm was one of the fastest bowlers in world cricket, with his career best performance of nine wickets for 57 runs against South Africa being one of the best innings performances in Test history. However, his playing style was also notable for his short-sightedness and poor catching, his powerful throwing arm, his perceived profligacy with the ball and his undoubted ineptitude with the bat, with his batting and fielding being described as of "court-jester standard".<ref>[http://www.espncricinfo.com/england/content/player/16885.html Cric info – Lawrence Booth]</ref>
[[Image:DMalcolmBowling.png|thumb|250px|right|A graph showing Malcolm's Test career bowling statistics and how they have varied over time.]] 

His under-average ability as a batsman, however, seemed to add to his popularity.<ref>[http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/ci/content/story/303300.html Cricinfo – The Jack of all rabbits<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> He was often cheered when he went out to bat, more often than not at number eleven, a position for which he was often in competition with [[Phil Tufnell]]. He hit some huge sixes for both England and Derbyshire and was a particular favorite of commentator [[Brian Johnston]].

As the cricket writer, Colin Bateman, noted, "Malcolm, incredibly wholehearted with an easy charm off the field, became a national hero."<ref>{{cite web | url=https://herefordshirecricket.co.uk/news/marches-league-awards-evening-2021/ | title=Marches League Awards Evening 2021 &#124; Herefordshire Cricket }}</ref>

==Domestic career==
Malcolm was one of England's very few genuinely [[fast bowling|fast bowlers]] of the 1990s. Born in [[Kingston, Jamaica]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.icc-cricket.com/news/672788 |title=Born in one country, played for another |work=International Cricket Council |access-date=27 April 2018}}</ref> he emigrated to [[Sheffield]] in 1979 and studied there at Richmond College.<ref>{{cite web |title=Wisden Cricketer of the Year 1995 |url=https://www.espncricinfo.com/wisdenalmanack/content/story/154409.html |publisher=ESPNcricinfo}}</ref>

Malcolm first played with [[Derbyshire CCC|Derbyshire]] in 1984, and was with the county until 1997.  Highlights of his time with Derbyshire included the county's victories in the [[Refuge Assurance League]] in 1990 and the [[Benson and Hedges Cup]] in 1993, Malcolm taking 3–23 in the semi-final of the latter against [[Northamptonshire CCC|Northamptonshire]]. Malcolm remained a highly effective bowler in [[county cricket]] thereafter, and in 1998 moved to play for [[Northamptonshire County Cricket Club|Northamptonshire]]. Two years later he moved again, this time to [[Leicestershire County Cricket Club|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]].<ref name="content-uk.cricinfo.com"/> 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 [[Friends Provident Trophy|C&G Trophy]] at a speed of 89.5 mph (144 km/h).<ref>{{cite web |title=A most public humiliation |url=https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/a-most-public-humiliation-262792 |publisher=Cricinfo}}</ref> He passed 1,000 first-class wickets while with Leicestershire.<ref>[http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/ci/content/story/116689.html Cricinfo – Malcolm is June's Player of the Month<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

==International career==
Malcolm's chance to play for England came when several members of the Test team announced their intention to take part in a [[South African rebel tours|rebel tour to South Africa]] during the 1989 [[Ashes series]], thereby disqualifying themselves from selection for the rest of the series.<ref name="Cap"/> He made his international debut in the Fifth Test against an [[Australia national cricket team]] already 3–0 up in the series. His first day in international cricket ended wicketless, as did all his team-mates', for this was the occasion on which [[Mark Taylor (cricketer)|Mark Taylor]] and [[Geoff Marsh]] batted together unbeaten throughout the first day. On the second day, Malcolm managed his first scalp, dismissing [[Steve Waugh]] for a duck – although it made little difference to the outcome: Australia crushed England by an [[Innings#Cricket|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. His top Test score of 29 off only 18 balls was scored in the 1994–1995 tour of Australia. It included three fours and two successive sixes off [[Shane Warne]].<ref name="Cricinfo – Long live the tail">[http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/england/content/story/276556.html Cricinfo – Long live the tail<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

On the [[West Indies cricket team|West Indies]] tour in 1989/90, Malcolm made a major impact, taking five wickets and running out [[Gordon Greenidge]] at [[Sabina Park]] in Jamaica as England won the First Test, their first victory against the [[West Indies cricket team|West Indies]] in a test match for sixteen years.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/england-tour-of-west-indies-1989-90-61752/west-indies-vs-england-1st-test-63526/full-scorecard |title=Full Scorecard of West Indies vs England, 1st Test, 1989-90|publisher=[[Cricinfo]]|access-date=23 March 2022}}</ref> After an abandoned Second Test he then took ten wickets in the Third Test,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/england-tour-of-west-indies-1989-90-61752/west-indies-vs-england-3rd-test-63527/full-scorecard|title=Full Scorecard of West Indies vs England, 3rd Test, 1989-90|publisher=[[Cricinfo]]|access-date=23 March 2022}}</ref> and, with a total of nineteen scalps in four Tests, returned as England's leading wicket-taker of the trip.<ref name="Cap"/> Although England narrowly lost that series, Malcolm was top wicket-taker again as he
helped England to win their next series against [[New Zealand national cricket team|New Zealand]], taking two [[five-wicket haul]]s. Malcolm was [[man of the match]] as England secured a home Test series victory for the first time in five years.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/england-v-new-zealand-1990-153149|title=England v New Zealand 1990|publisher=[[ESPNCricinfo]]|access-date=29 June 2022}}</ref>

That winter Malcolm joined [[English cricket team in Australia in 1990-91|England's tour of Australia and New Zealand]]. Although England lost [[the Ashes]] series heavily, Malcolm won some praise, the ''Wisden'' review of the tour observing: "Of the established players, other than [[Jack Russell (cricketer, born 1963)|Russell]],... surprisingly it was Malcolm who made the biggest advance, despite his costly wickets ... he came back full of running for every spell, bowling with pace and heart, and he might well have won the Sydney Test if [[Graham Gooch|Gooch]] had given him an early chance to attack [[Carl Rackemann|Rackemann]]".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.espncricinfo.com/wisdenalmanack/content/story/154307.html|title=England in Australia and New Zealand, 1990-91|publisher=Wisden|access-date=23 March 2022}}</ref> Malcolm also played as England won at [[Headingley cricket ground|Leeds]] the following summer in their first Test victory over the West Indies in England in 22 years, but his wickets had dried up and he was replaced by [[David Lawrence (cricketer)|David Lawrence]]. After a horrific injury to Lawrence, Malcolm was recalled to the England side in 1992.

Malcolm continued to have intermittent success for England thereafter but struggled with inconsistency. For instance, after taking a [[five-wicket haul]] for England against [[Pakistan national cricket team|Pakistan]] at [[The Oval]] in 1992,<ref>{{cite web|title=Full Scorecard of England vs Pakistan 5th Test 1992|url=https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/pakistan-tour-of-england-1992-61462/england-vs-pakistan-5th-test-63579/full-scorecard|publisher=[[Cricinfo]]|access-date=22 March 2022}}</ref> he was selected for a winter tour of [[India cricket team|India]] and [[Sri Lanka national cricket team|Sri Lanka]] and included in the team for three of the four Tests. He struggled in spin-friendly conditions, and although he did take his best [[ODI cricket|one-day international]] figures on this tour,<ref>{{cite web|title=Full Scorecard of England vs India 6th ODI 1992/93|url=https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/england-tour-of-india-1992-93-61796/india-vs-england-6th-odi-64416/full-scorecard|publisher=[[Cricinfo]]|access-date=22 March 2022}}</ref> England lost all of the Tests heavily, and he was dropped. Recalled for the final Test the following summer he took six wickets as England won their first Test against Australia since 1986.<ref>{{cite web|title=Full Scorecard of England vs Australia 6th Test 1993|url=https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/australia-tour-of-england-and-ireland-1993-61338/england-vs-australia-6th-test-63614/full-scorecard|publisher=[[Cricinfo]]|access-date=22 March 2022}}</ref> [[Steve Waugh]], one of Malcolm's victims again on this occasion, 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".<ref>{{cite web|title=Did England waste the talents of Devon Malcolm?|url=https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/did-england-waste-the-talents-of-devon-malcolm-1224218|publisher=[[Cricinfo]]|access-date=22 March 2022}}</ref> However, the England selectors disagreed and Malcolm was soon dropped again.

On 20 August 1994, recalled to play for England against [[South Africa national cricket team|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".<ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/england/7541544.stm | publisher=BBC News | first=Pranav | last=Soneji | title=Malcolm's greatest spell | date=5 August 2008}}</ref> 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 ninth-best bowling figures in an innings in the entire history of Test cricket as of May 2022.

That winter Malcom participated in the [[English cricket team in Australia in 1994–95|1994-5 Ashes series]], helping England to victory in the fourth test at Adelaide, taking seven wickets in the match and dismissing Waugh again.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/england-tour-of-australia-1994-95-61706/australia-vs-england-4th-test-63666/full-scorecard|title=Full scorecard of England vs Australia, 4th Test 1994-5|publisher=[[Cricinfo]]|access-date=22 March 2022}}</ref> England however lost the series. Like most England players of his generation, Malcolm would never finish on the winning side in an [[the Ashes|Ashes]] series.

Malcolm sought and in October 1995 obtained legal redress when a July 1995 article appearing in the ''[[Wisden Cricket Monthly]]'' questioned the commitment of players of foreign origin to the [[England cricket team]]. According to subsequent recollection this recalled typecasting of Malcolm and [[Gladstone Small]] by politician [[Norman Tebbit]] after the 1990 victory at Sabina Park.<ref name="what">{{cite web|title=What happened to the black cricketer?|date=24 November 2018 |url=https://www.espncricinfo.com/wcm/content/story/134939.html|publisher=[[Cricinfo]]|access-date=22 March 2022}}</ref> Malcolm, along with an England and then Derbyshire colleague [[Phillip DeFreitas]], issued writs for defamation; Malcolm accepted libel damages through the High Court while DeFreitas settled outside of court.<ref>{{cite web|title=Frith Finishes Marathon Spell As Racial Dispute Takes Toll (26 Feb 1996)|url=https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/frith-finishes-marathon-spell-as-racial-dispute-takes-toll-26-feb-1996-72181|publisher=[[Cricinfo]]|access-date=22 March 2022}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/low/cricket/counties/leicestershire/2019449.stm | publisher=BBC News | first=Paul | last=Grunill | title=Devon built for speed | date=31 May 2002}}</ref> He was also reported to have had disagreements with England's then bowling coach, [[Peter Lever]].<ref name="content-uk.cricinfo.com">[http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/ci/content/story/133797.html Cricinfo – England's erratic assassin<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Malcolm bowled poorly with the second new ball in the final Test, which allowed [[Dave Richardson (South African cricketer)|Dave Richardson]] and [[Paul Adams (cricketer)|Paul Adams]] to add 73 for the last wicket.<ref name="Cricinfo – Long live the tail"/> An insinuation that Malcolm had "no cricketing brain" has been cited as an instance of [[institutional racism]] in cricket.<ref name="what" />

Malcolm played his last Test for England against Australia in 1997, also at [[the Oval]],<ref>{{cite web|title=Full Scorecard of England vs Australia 6th Test 1997|url=https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/australia-tour-of-england-and-scotland-1997-61346/england-vs-australia-6th-test-63759/full-scorecard|publisher=[[Cricinfo]]|access-date=22 March 2022}}</ref> the ground at which he achieved the all time best bowling figures in a [[Test cricket|Test]] innings.<ref name="Oval best bowling in Test innings">{{cite web | url=https://www.espncricinfo.com/records/ground/bowling-best-figures-innings/eng-kennington-oval-london-45/test-matches-1 | title=ENG: Kennington Oval, London Cricket Ground Test match bowling best figures innings }}</ref>

==Beyond cricket==
Malcolm runs DEM Sports, a company that sells cricket equipment to schools and clubs around the world. <ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.demsports.com | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150708032307/http://www.demsports.com | archive-date=8 July 2015 | title=DEM Sports LTD, (Devon Malcolm Cricket), UK manufacturer of high quality cricket ground equipment }}</ref>

He is Black Communities Events Organiser for the ECB,<ref>https://www.sheffieldcricketlovers.org.uk/from-taking-wickets-to-making-waves-in-communities-devon-malcolms-journey-from-playing-legend-to-community-changemaker/</ref> and was awarded his Freedom of the City of London in April 2023 in honour of his sporting achievements.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{cricinfo|id=16885}}
*[http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/cricket/article6806301.ece Sunday Times article 23 August, 2009]{{dead link|date=January 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Malcolm, Devon}}
[[Category:1963 births]]
[[Category:Alumni of the University of Derby]]
[[Category:Black British sportsmen]]
[[Category:Derbyshire cricketers]]
[[Category:England One Day International cricketers]]
[[Category:England Test cricketers]]
[[Category:English cricketers]]
[[Category:English cricketers of 1969 to 2000]]
[[Category:20th-century English sportsmen]]
[[Category:English people of Jamaican descent]]
[[Category:Sportspeople of Jamaican descent]]
[[Category:Jamaican emigrants to the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Leicestershire cricketers]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom|United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Northamptonshire cricketers]]
[[Category:People from Spratton]]
[[Category:Suffolk cricketers]]
[[Category:Wisden Cricketers of the Year]]
[[Category:Cricketers from Northamptonshire]]
[[Category:Cricketers from Kingston, Jamaica]]