Devon Malcolm: “White people must stand up and encourage change”
Former England paceman Devon Malcolm believes that the cricket establishment in this country remains a closed shop when it comes to appointing black or Asian candidates to senior positions.
The 57-year old, who took 128 wickets in a stop-start Test career, points to a clear lack of opportunities for black and Asian former players, and believes that it’s the white population who need to change their attitudes towards race if progress is ever going to be made.
Having just celebrated Black History Month, Malcolm thinks that it’s time for cricket’s hierarchy to reflect, and open the door to people of colour.
“There are (black and Asian) players who played the game at the highest level, but if county teams are not open to the idea to give them an interview or pass the first hurdle, then black players won’t get the opportunity to coach a county team,” Devon told the Sports Gazette.
“This is clearly the reason why we don’t have one black member in the ECB boardroom, coach or CEO of a county team. If you can’t get to the first page for an interview you’ve got no chance.”
“Other players get opportunities in industry; there’s a lot of black lawyers, black barristers who love the game, but wouldn’t even apply or try to get into position (at the ECB) because they reckon it’s a closed door.
“There are plenty of black and Asian cricketers who have played the game at the highest level who have experience in marketing and in administration, but there doesn’t seem to be any decision-making roles for these guys.”
Devon points to the stunted career trajectory of another former England player Mark Alleyne, who seemed to make great strides as a coach at the MCC.
The natural progression for Alleyne, who also enjoyed a successful career at Gloucester CCC, would have been to become head coach for a domestic or international team, but he has been seemingly swept away in the system.
“Governing bodies must decide to put something in place to give access to applying or nothing will change,” added Devon.
Another player who is staggered at the lack of opportunities being given to black and Asian cricketers is Roland Butcher, who became the first black player to represent England 40 years ago.
“There has always been an assumption that black people can play but not succeed in management positions. This is the reason why there isn’t one black board member, CEO, or coach in the professional game,” he said.
“That is a really crazy situation. But I guess losing this perception that we can play but can’t manage would open doors.”
While black players like Butcher and Malcolm are frustrated at the lack of opportunities in senior management and coaching positions for people of colour, the ECB also understands that more needs to be done to level the playing field.
Chief Executive Tom Harrison feels that the ECB must face some uncomfortable truths.
“We have listened and will continue to listen carefully to the experiences of black people in cricket and society, and we thank those who worked tirelessly and spoke bravely to open up conversations about the change our sport needs to create,” he told the Evening Standard.
Harrison also told Sky Sports that he “wants to be held to account” in the organisation’s attempts to eradicate the “unconscious bias” within the game and the racism that mirrors “large parts of society”.
The ECB understands that talking to a wider range of people, discussing issues properly and looking at positive behaviour within the black community would help to get rid of unconscious bias. And this idea of white people needing to step up is a concept that Devon Malcolm also believes passionately in.
Malcolm recalls an incident in the 80’s playing against Worcester when one of his team-mates got out and called one of the opposition players a P***.
“I told him, you might as well say The N word. It’s as derogatory as the N-word is to our race, so why use that word? “ he added.
“One of the biggest issues I ever had was a British white lady who heard this and said ‘too right Dev’. It was the greatest support I ever had and it was unbelievable. We talk about Black Lives Matter, but you need the whites to stand up and encourage change.”
Change is also needed in the classroom according Devon.
“There is nothing about slavery in schools, nothing about black people. They talk about Tudors and other history. Anything to do with slavery has been totally swept away. People believe the history of black people in this country started from Windrush,” he added.
“Slavery should be taught in secondary schools. It is an important part of British history and how the empire was formed. Black History Month is about celebrating black achievements and it should not be concealed or brushed away.”
Leading academic Priyamvada Gopal agrees that black achievement and their struggles have been hidden.
“Since colonialism was inseparable from capitalism, many anti-colonial movements in the Caribbean and Africa cohered around labour rights, taking the form of strikes and boycotts. All of this history would be deemed extremist and even banned under the Department for Education’s current guidelines,” he told the Guardian.
It remains to be seen whether the Black Lives Matter movement will be an inspiration for change.
However, you can’t interview Devon Malcolm without mentioning one momentous day against South Africa at the Oval some 26 years ago…
His performance of 9/57 against South Africa in 1994 was the best bowling analysis by any Test cricketer at the Oval.
This amazing performance was triggered when South African seamer Fanie De Villiers hit Devon square on the head with a bouncer in England’s first innings.
This added fuel to Devon’s fire. He took this very personally indeed, and vowed to swiftly exact revenge.
“If you really want to know what fast bowling is all about, just wait until you come to bat in the 2nd innings,” I thought.
He delivered. Devon’s blistering spell of bowling destroyed the South African batting order, and his performance even prompted Nelson Mandela to call him and invite him over, famously saying: “Sports people get to younger people a lot easier than politicians”.
Too true. Just ask Boris Johnson, who seems to have found a nemesis in Marcus Rashford…
