Happy Birthday Basil Willam Malcolm: In the early days of cricket, one of its cradles was Sussex, and Basil William Malcolm was born there in 1912.
He developed into a right-arm medium pacer as he grew older, capable of wreaking havoc on batters in the bottom order. His batting talent was on display in his debut game, as he outscored Christ’s Hospital with a score of 58 to become the game’s top scorer. He scored 20 in the subsequent college game he played against the same opponent, but he made up for it by grabbing 4 wickets and helping Eastbourne win.
He also stood up for the Young Amateurs, led by Denis Moore, against the Young Professionals, led by Andy Wilson. He made only 17 runs when batting at No. 3 in the 2-day match’s first innings, but as an all-arounder, he made a lasting impression by taking a pair of wickets for just 16 runs in 7 overs. He scored 68 in the second innings, giving Amateurs’ total the necessary boost to reach 248 at the conclusion of their innings, and he once more claimed a few wickets.
Malcolm had a number of notable outings, including one against Lord’s Schools for The Rest. Malcolm excelled with statistics of 10.4-4-21-4 despite Lord’s last innings score of 253.
Malcolm was not given the opportunity to bat after The Rest scored 81 for 2 at the close of Day 2 of the two-day match, which ended in a draw. He had Paul van der Gucht as one of his colleagues. In a later stage of his career, they would cross paths.
He was in Bengal at some point in 1938, and that year, 1938–1939, saw the beginning of his First-Class career—and his debut came in an unusually exciting Ranji Trophy semifinal. The formidable Bengal squad, captained by Tom Longfield, had defeated Central India, headed by Vijay Hazare, in their last group encounter, going 5-for-5.
They had a score of 329 for 8 at day’s end, with Malcolm still standing at 118. The next day, Malcolm raised the total to 515 with good assistance from Tara Sankar Bhattacharjee and Kamal Bhattacharya. At the time the article was published, he had an undefeated total of 181, the best score by any batsman in his first debut for Bengal. It also held the record for the greatest debut score on Indian soil until 1967–1968.
Malcolm’s qualifications continue to be his capacity to adjust to shifting conditions and execute effectively. He was used to playing in English conditions against seam bowlers on green grounds, therefore it was difficult for him to adjust to new surroundings in a tense game and get 181 not out in his First-Class debut.
In 1952 and 1956, he would make two more trips back to India, although neither trip would include any appearances in cricket-related events. In order to have a good night’s sleep, queries about why Malcolm did not become well-known despite having all the potential were buried beside the body after he passed away in 1995 in Derbyshire.
Happy Birthday Basil Willam Malcolm: Highest score by Batsman in debut match in India till ‘68
