Devon Malcolm may have played his last test match nearly twenty years ago, but his popularity shows no signs of diminishing. The giant English fast bowler dropped into the College this week to deliver several masterclasses to pupils from the Prep and Senior school thanks to the generosity of the Ventham family.
The 54-year-old quick bowler, who was once recorded as bowling at 98 mph, even had time to strap on his boots and bowl at Gappy Cam Greenhall (OF), although he was rather kinder to Cam than he had been to the South Africans at the Oval in 1994 when he recorded the sixth best test match bowling figures of all time in taking 9-57!
His question and answer sessions were punctuated with his legendary humour and charm, especially when probed about his batting. “My old coach used to tell me,” chortled Devon, “that if there were sixteen players in a team, you’d be batting at 16!” Many of the youngsters may not have heard of Devon Malcolm before, but they certainly won’t be forgetting him in a hurry.
