Devon Malcolm

Wisden overview
Devon Malcolm was all about raw pace. When England went to the Caribbean in 1989-90 promising to fight fire with fire, he was most of the ammunition, angling the ball in at high speed and occasionally swinging it away. And after he was hit on the helmet at The Oval in 1994 he responded by reducing South Africa to shell-shocked wrecks. But that was about as good as his international career got. His control - and confidence - was apt to go awol, and since his infamous spat with Ray Illingworth at Cape Town in 1995-96, his cricket has been limited mainly to the East Midlands, with Derbyshire, Northants and finally Leicestershire, whom he joined at the venerable age of 37. When he finally announced his retirement three seasons later, he was still bowling as quickly as any man on the circuit. His batting and fielding were court-jester standard - which is part of the reason for his cult status around the world. Lawrence Booth