Malcolm was one of England’s few genuinely fast bowlers of the 1990s. Born in Kingston, Jamaica, he emigrated to Sheffield in 1979 and studied there at Richmond College. He played for Yorkshire Schools, but at the time Yorkshire Cricket Club had a strict rule banning players who had been born outside Yorkshire. Instead, he made his first-class debut for nearby Derbyshire in 1984, and qualified to play for England in 1987.

On 20 August 1994, playing for England against South Africa at The Oval, Malcolm was hit on the helmet by a bouncer while batting against Fanie de Villiers. He was incensed by this, exclaiming to the South African slip cordon the now famous words “You guys are history”, and hit back with his greatest spell of international bowling, ripping through the South African batting order to finish with figures of 9–57, at the time the sixth-best innings analysis in the history of Test cricket. His performance was subsequently ranked 91st in Channel 4’s 100 Greatest Sporting Moments in 2002. It was also the best bowling analysis, in Test cricket, by an English fast bowler in the 20th century. Malcolm was named as one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1995.

He remained a highly effective bowler in county cricket, however, and in 1998 Malcolm moved to play for Northamptonshire. Two years later he moved again, this time to Leicestershire, for whom he played his final first-class match in 2003. In his final season Malcolm claimed over 60 wickets and achieved one 10-wicket haul. He passed 1,000 first-class wickets with Leicestershire.