| Player: | DE Malcolm |
DateLine: 8th December 2005
With shuffling baby steps preceding a gliding run to the crease, Devon Malcolm could resemble a tracer bullet from a long distance away he looked like he was coming slowly towards you, until he get closer and was seen to be whizzing in. Only David Lawrence or Ricardo Ellcock could rival Malcolm as being the quickest English bowler of the 1980s and 1990s, although Malcolms longevity (his last First-class match came after his fortieth birthday) contrasted with the injury ruined careers of his fellow quicks. Malcolms career will always be remembered for, and put in the context of, his 9-57 demolition of South Africa in 1994 at The Oval. His refrain of you guys are history (a vengeful, possibly apocryphal threat delivered after a South African bouncer had broken his helmet) has passed into cricketing lore and given him the title of his biography. However, that out and out revenge should have motivated him to such a stellar performance sat somewhat disconcertingly with Malcolms calm, off-field demeanour. South Africa played him correctly that Saturday afternoon, they were just too late one forward defensive from Hansie Cronje was immaculate, although his stumps had already been shattered by the time he had started his pose.
Malcolms First-class career began with Derbyshire in 1984, after deciding that he could always go back to his business studies course if he wasnt happy or successful as a professional cricketer. He had been causing consternation with Sheffield in the Yorkshire league, and in a match for a Yorkshire league XI against a Yorkshire XI, he clean bowled past and future Test openers in Geoff Boycott and Martyn Moxon. However, his birthplace of Jamaica prohibited any offer from Headingley in the years of the Yorkshire-born policy. Throughout both his First-class and Test careers words like raw followed him with bland regularity, and his clumsy fielding (and batting which would shame a pinch hitting village blacksmith charity match) encouraged the mistaken impression that he was a one dimensional speed machine who thought little about the game. This accusation was given with much publicity and forcefulness by Ray Illingworth on the tour to South Africa in 1994-5, an incident which also allegedly involved Malcolm being racially abused. The nadir came at Cape Town in the New Year of 1996, where Malcolm, armed with a new ball, was singled out for criticism after no.11 Paul Adams (a rabbit whose batting compared with Malcolms own efforts) had been allowed to take part in a last wicket stand of 73 which helped take the game away from England. Although a perfect yorker from Malcolm would have ended his stay, Adams also benefited from French cuts, dropped catches and overthrows, and it says much about the fragility of the England team at the time that an annoying last wicket partnership should so affect the teams confidence and concentration (England collapsed to 157 all out and a subsequent 10 wicket defeat).
Malcolm had made his Test debut against the rampant Australians of 1989. Figures of 1-166 in an innings defeat were hardly stunning, although his dismissal of Steve Waugh for a duck showed that express pace was uncomfortable for even the best players. A glorious six smoted of leg spinner Trevor Hohns (which Malcolm later, only half jokingly said was the highlight of his match) in his maiden Test innings also dropped a hint that Malcolms future innings would be brief but entertaining. Although then Chairman of Selectors Ted Dexter famously mispronounced him Malcom Devon, that winters tour of the West Indies saw Malcolm play a key part in Englands win in Jamaica (where he dismissed Viv Richards twice) and he then took 10 wickets in Port of Spain as England just failed to be brave enough to go for the win. Further success came against a nervous New Zealand line up in 1990. Malcolm was always in and out of the Test team after this, with his detractors saying his radar was too wonky for a Test career, and with his supporters saying if Malcolm didnt know where the ball was going then the batsmen certainly didnt. The truth is that in an era of a middling English cricket team, there was on occasion little to lose in playing Malcolm, a man more likely to be an out and out matchwinner than a line and length medium fast bowler. It is equally true to say that for every match in which Malcolm ripped through a batting line-up there were arguably more which finished closely, and where Malcolms expensive, low yielding returns were equally (and detrimentally) decisive in determining a match. Malcolms last Test series was the 1997 Ashes, where he played a now forgotten part in Australias first innings collapse at Edgbaston. He suckered Mark Taylor with a wide ball (though whether you think it was a deliberate ploy depends on how highly you rate his cricketing brain) and then pushed another nail in the coffin of Michael Bevans Test career by dismissing him with a brutal, but well aimed ball at his ribs. In later matches of that series he also enjoyed some success by pitching the ball up, which casts doubt on the assertions of those who believe that Malcolm was a non-thinking bouncer and wides machine. If Malcolm had been such an unthinking cricketer, he wouldnt have continued to return excellent season returns into his late 30s, where nous clearly became as essential a weapon as his speed. The fact that Malcolm was able to play past his fortieth birthday also demonstrates the professional pride which Malcolm invested into his lifestyle and fitness. He may also have benefited from the rotation policy which Derbyshire employed in the early years of his career to preserve their battery of pacemen.
His career at Derbyshire ended on a sour note at the end of 1997, with complaints that other players had deliberately conspired to hinder his benefit year. In a mini war of words, Philip Defreitas accused Malcolm of having refused to bowl in a match at Worcester under his captaincy. Whoever was right or wrong, it was sad that Malcolm left a club hed taken over 500 First-class wickets for on poor terms. Malcolm went on to join Northamptonshire and then Leicestershire, and he was still taking five wicket hauls and taking his scalps for under 30 in his last First-class season. If his bowling became more refined with age, then his batting remained a glorious mix of leg-side swipes and shattered stumps. In an era of even arch rabbits like Glenn McGrath being turned into solid blockers looking to dab singles, Malcolmesque assaults on bowlers may become rarer and rarer. That would be a shame, as Malcolms brutal handling of Shane Warne at Sydney in 1994/5 (he hit two sixes and three fours in claiming an 18 ball 29) provided the sort of unorthodox magic which only cricket can provide. Malcolm now plays for Suffolk in Minor Counties cricket (from where his recommendation to Derbyshire helped team mate Ben France to begin his First-class career), and Dunstall in the Derbyshire Premier league, where his speed with the ball is still very uncomfortable for batsmen. The short boundaries of many league grounds have also done little to curb Malcolms enjoyment of a brutal six.
December 2005
(Article: Copyright © 2005 Matthew Reed)
