Malcolm in the Middle (You Guys Are History! - Devon Malcolm)

Member Name: thedevilinme

Product:	You Guys Are History! - Devon Malcolm
Date:	20/09/08 (189 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Honest book

Disadvantages: Whinging book

Devon Malcolm was the Monty Panasar of the 1990s, as simple as. He was the ethnic comic relief that, unlike Monty, didn't really grasp the fact that the only way to be accepted by the British sporting public is to play the role forced upon them and be subservient to it. If you do that and perform in cricket then they will love you. Chris Akabusi made a living out of it in athletics. But as soon as your game starts to go and you're fielding and batting completely collapse, as is the case with Monty right now and always the case with Dev, then you become a laughing stock to that same crowd again, and that affects your form and that's the end of that. It may not suit your ego but Tufnell learnt you go with the flow and so has Monty. Dev never did and that was that. I'm sure Monty will get back on top of his game but I'm also sure he too will only be horses for courses bowler under KP, like the ever erratic Malcolm became dead rubber Dev under Atherton.

Dev played for my team Northants in the mid 90s after he acrimoniously left Derbyshire to come here He still lives in my home town of Northampton and last week was seen raging at traffic warden by yours truly. Dev's a top bloke and still comes to the ground now and then to break bread and then pilfer the kitchens for free food. When he bowled for us he wasn't great and faired little better when he moved on to Leicestershire, never to play for England again soon after his Derbyshire departure. Devs problem wasn't so much the obvious chip-on-the-shoulder in being Jamaican British but his unwillingness to do the full Monty so to be accepted by the snobby cricket establishment. The infamous and bigoted Wisden article in the mid nineties that claimed English cricketers of color never really bend their backs when playing against their country of origin in tests really did light the blue touch paper on that one.

-The early years-

Devs parents died young, his mum at 48 when he was in Jamaica and his dad when he moved to Sheffield, pop worked to the bone and his lungs full of dust, sacrifices to bring his boy up proper. Dev never got in with the bad crowd and was soon playing a good standard of village cricket, but athletics and football his first love, his dad making sure he gained good exam passes at Sheffield Tech.
After bowling the great Boycott for nought in a Yorkshire leagues preseason friendly with raw pace and bounce he was spotted by bordering county Derbyshire and signed for £3,000 for his first season in country cricket in his early twenties. In those days you couldn't play for Yorkshire CCC unless you were born there. Rules were also tight for county second eleven guys, unable to play in the first team until you have done your two year apprenticeship. Dev was also restricted on the games he could play when he did make the first team as he was still classed as an overseas player alongside the fearsome Michael Holding and then Ian Bishop later on, strictly just the one per game in the 80s and early 90s.

-The England years-

After 35 pages of the book and some big performances for Derbyshire he's soon playing for England by the year of 1989, after just two years as a pro. That pace and bounce was invaluable to England and even though Dev got his cap relatively late in cricket he was worth his place. In the early days of his career he bowled in thick lensed national health glasses (see the books pictures) and they were taped around the back of his head to avoid the gormless embarrassment of them going askew of flying off mid run up or delivery. But debuting against Australia in the Ashes is not the best time to start, Australia a record 310-0 by the end of the first day and Devs final match figures of 1-166 reflecting that slaughter. Dev makes some strong points in the book about the preparation for tests back then under David Gower's captaincy, literally rocking up the evening before the match to meet and greet and do an hours net, get some kip and then the test next day. Devs welcome to test cricket wasn't much better on the pitch. After complimenting Aussies boisterous opening bowler in Terry Alderman for a piece of play, showing respect to him, the big Aussie quickie quickly told him to f**k off! It was welcome to the big time for Devon.

Malcolm had done enough to earn a tour to his native West Indies where he would play his heroes of Richards, Holding and co. And what a series it was, the early nineties the prime of Lara and just the merest signs that the all conquering West Indies years were coming to an end, the four fearsome opening attack not quite like it was giving England's first four a chance they hadn't seen for 15 years. Once Lara's batting declined though they were ever the same again, most of the big 6-4" plus guys from the islands turning to basketball and athletics through American university scholarships. Dev would fair much better on the tour than he did his one test against Australia.

A home test series against India would follow where Dev would get this name on the Lords honors board with a fivefor. But Australia Down Under is the toughest test of all and he was soon on the back foot and becoming England's scapegoat for the big defeats piling up. Dev was fast, that there was no doubt, but very erratic and that means opening bats can find rare relief from the new hard ball if your not accurate, the merest touch sending the ball to the ropes. Coach Keith Fletcher would be next out.

-The Derbyshire turmoil-

Between the grueling test matches there was turmoil at his county, the players increasingly aloof of their England player. And because Devon was out of the loop he sided with the wrong party in the clubs internal dispute and was soon ostracized. War was raging between outspoken guys like Chris Adams and Dominic Cork on one side and club stalwart Kim Barnet on the other. I remember at the time when Northamptonshire played them at our home ground there was scuffle in the car park involving two of those guys, not surprisingly Cork one of them. Northants would not get the best of Malcolm from that departing animosity.

-The England decline-

Here in the book it's clear that new tour manger and selector Ray Illingworth did not like Malcolm and the feeling was quickly reciprocated. Under new captain Mike Atherton on Devs second West Indies tour the two really fell out. Dev felt Atherton wasn't using him right in tests early on against Lara, and 'Illy' just didn't wan to use him at all because of his waywardness that played into the attacking West Indies batsmen's hands , preferring to bring in Yorkshire players, calling him a "cricketing non entity", by the end of the fowling South African tour. It was the West Indies tour where England were bowled out for just 46 and the one where Lara, by then the best bat the world has ever seen, broke the World Record with 375.

The following home series against the Springbok would be the one that made Devon famous, his 9-74 against South Africa in that incredibly hostile spell bought on by all that trapped rage and anger from over the years. It all started when he hit the likeable Jonty Rhodes on the head in the first innings, he an epileptic, the South Africans apoplectic with rage over that because Jonty had a fit on the floor, so targeting dev in the England innings to get even. When Dev got one on the conk he turned to the slips and said that infamous comment,"You Guys are History!", although there was a swear word or two in there. His figures of 9-74 that followed and one the match and leveled the series at the Oval are still the best ever for a quick bowler in test match history for any team.
But that would be Malcolm's last great hurrah in his increasingly truncated career and his fall-out with Atherton would end his reign as England's go to strike bowler, Gough taking over the role with Caddick alongside to finally beat the West Indies.

Towards the end of the book Devs animosity comes through in what is a very honest account of his cricketing days and the specter of racism inevitably rears its ugly head. It also went to pieces at Derbyshire for Malcolm when he left after his benefit season, the club spinning against him to hurt him even more. But by now he was bowling three good balls and three bad ones and that is more likely to cost runs early on than take wickets and so his career began to flicker out like an old light bulb.

-Conclusions-

For me Devon missed the point and that's why he became so bitter about England. I would never question his loyalty to England as I have spoken to him about that, but his reputation he so craved was based on being the Caribbean clown, and like Monty, you have to accept that to stay in favor with your team mates and the fans. I have seen Shane Ward get terrible stick over his weight and Tufnell over his fielding but they know cricket fans by the tickets and Sky subscriptions and that's what pays their wages. Brand Malcolm definitely prolonged his careers and it will Monty. The customer is never wrong. When those cheers of enjoyment turn to laughter is when it all goes wrong. But there was never any racism against Malcolm because players and fans alike adore the guy and cricket spectators, in my opinion, are not unruly football fans looking to express their views that way. We watch seven hours of cricket for the craic and the beer and although the banter and ribbing to players can be excessive it's rarely based on skin color, considering the dark skinned teams dominated the game back then. I suspect Devs lawyer over the Wisden thing talked him into leading the reporters on over race to sell his story to the tabloids for more money and I suspect that's still Devs biggest regret in the game.

The book itself is strictly for cricket fans and it isn't Pulitzer Prize material. It's an angry book as it's a basic and uplifting book on the story of a nice Caribbean guy who worked hard and fore filled his dreams in England. Dev doesn't have to tell you his character weakness as they are expressed in the written text, his willingness to talk down to authority in an unknowing way he thought wasn't irritating always his worst trait. And if you throw in that perfunctory chip-on-the-shoulder most British Caribbean boys carry then you can see why he can be a loving handful. I'm sure if Dev could go back to his debut against Australia when Marsh and Border an up 300 he wouldn't have done anything different, but if it was his first match this week in the days of the lucrative Twenty20 and central contracts you can bet he would have. There are few really good guys in cricket that want to know the fans and Dev is one of them.

Summary: Cricket fans only..