About Devon Malcolm
Devon Eugene Malcolm (born 22 February 1963) is a Jamaican-born English former cricketer. Born in Kingston, Jamaica, Malcolm played in 40 Test matches and 10 One Day Internationals 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". His under-average ability as a batsman, however, seemed to add to his popularity. 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 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 appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2025 Birthday Honours for services to cricket and to diversity in cricket. Malcolm first played with Derbyshire in 1984, and was with the county until 1997. 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. Two years later he moved again, this time to Leicestershire, for whom he played his final first-class match in 2003.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.