Devon Malcolm

Personal information

Full name

Devon Eugene Malcolm

Born

22 February 1963 (age 53)
Kingston, Jamaica

Height

6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)

Batting style

Right-handed

Bowling style

Right arm fast

International information

National side

England

Test debut (cap 539)

10 August 1989 v Australia

Last Test

23 August 1997 v Australia

ODI debut (cap 107)

25 May 1990 v New Zealand

Last ODI

16 February 1994 v West Indies

Domestic team information

Years

Team

1984–1997

Derbyshire

1998–2000

Northamptonshire

2001–2003

Leicestershire

Career statistics

Competition	Test	ODI	FC	LA
Matches	40	10	304	185
Runs scored	236	9	1,985	313
Batting average	6.05	3.00	7.84	5.21
100s/50s	0/0	0/0	0/2	0/0
Top score	29	4	51	42
Balls bowled	8,480	526	53,284	8,982
Wickets	128	16	1,054	249
Bowling average	37.09	25.25	30.33	27.61
5 wickets in innings	5	0	46	2
10 wickets in match	2	n/a	9	n/a
Best bowling	9/57	3/40	9/57	7/35
Catches/stumpings	7/–	1/–	45/–	21/–

Source: Cricinfo, 11 November 2009

Devon Eugene Malcolm (born 22 February 1963) is a former English cricketer.

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 took part in just ten One Day Internationals. On his day he was one of the fastest bowlers in world cricket, but 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.

His under-average ability as a batsman seemed however to add to his popularity, and he was often given a big cheer 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 favourite 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".

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. He was lucky to make his first international appearance in the Fifth Test of 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 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. Other "high" Malcolm scores included 18 against the West Indies despite being hit by several short deliveries, and 15 not out against India in a last wicket stand with Eddie Hemmings including a powerfully struck six.

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