Celebrating Windrush’s contribution to UK life

The England and Wales Cricket Board proudly supports the Windrush 75 campaign and its celebration of the impact of an extraordinary generation of migrants. Former England cricketer Devon Malcolm remembers his own journey from the Caribbean into British sporting history

WINDRUSH 75 is a much-needed campaign because the contribution the Windrush generation made to UK life is enormous.

My dad’s aunt and his eldest sister came to England before him. He followed in 1964, and right across the world there was a call from Mother England to come and help out. A lot of people packed up and made the sacrifice to help rebuild Britain after the Second World War, working in hospitals, construction and the transport system.

They did a tremendous job, but it was also very tough for those arriving here.

My sister and I came from Jamaica to join my dad in Sheffield in 1980. When we arrived, it was quite a culture shock. As we travelled to our new home from Heathrow Airport there were clumps of snow on the side of the motorway, which was exciting to see for the first time.

Back then, Sheffield was an industrial city, dominated by steelworks, and I noticed the smoke that was coming from the chimneys of most buildings. I instantly thought Sheffield must be a place with lots of bakeries, since they were the only place you would see that amount of smoke in Jamaica.

Help

We lived in a multicultural, multiracial part of the city; a real melting pot. We were not far from Brendan Ingle’s boxing gym, and seeing the likes of Herol ‘Bomber’ Graham in training was common.

One of the first people we went to see was a family friend, Des Smith, who had emigrated to England from Jamaica in the 1960s. Des was a very good cricketer and a huge help in our new lives. He got all our immigration papers in order and got us set up with things like National Insurance numbers.

Later I went to Richmond College, which had a diverse mix of students. At first I played a lot of football, but in the early 1980s when the mighty West Indies were touring England, someone asked me if I had ever played cricket. That’s how I got back into it. Cricket in the African-Caribbean community was a major part of life in Sheffield. I played a few games in the parks before Sheffield Caribbean Sports Club heard of a young tearaway fast bowler frightening the daylights out of batters. They recruited me and it went from there.

I soon saw how African-Caribbean communities across the country were using cricket to link themselves together by setting up their own clubs. At the weekend we would travel to play the various Caribbean teams in different cities. Food, music and dominoes was a must so the matches lifted our spirits and reinforced our culture.

Cricket gave my dad and his generation so much pride, as well as a vehicle to raise their self-esteem in the face of racism. He was an England supporter in every match apart from when they played West Indies – so he may not have passed the Tebbit Test! But when West Indies began to beat England on a regular basis from the late 1970s onwards, it gave him the confidence to walk into work with a voice and his head held high.

Personally, I just loved the game and was interested in world cricket. Growing up in Jamaica I listened to the radio and heard Michael Holding bowling to Geoff Boycott – one of the quickest first overs in Test cricket. I also heard matches when players like Gary Sobers, Rohan Kanhai, Viv Richards, Desmond Haynes, and Colin Croft were playing, to name but a few.

Like most youngsters I wanted to emulate the best players and tried to improve every time I went out to play or practice. In the early stages I was just trying to bowl quickly; but when I started

TRAILBLAZER: Devon Malcolm came to the UK from Jamaica in 1980; below, Devon played in 40 Test matches for England various professions, are making positive contributions to their communities.

Before my dad left Jamaica, the stories were that the streets in England were paved with gold and opportunities were abundant. He hoped that hard work would see him return to Jamaica in four or five years, but that was not the case. Like many he faced overt racism daily, and suffered many terrible experiences of isolation at work.

Things have changed for the better now, but that doesn’t mean everything is fine. Racism used to be overt, but it is now subtle, covert and systematic. But I do believe we are making progress, and crucially, our young people are not prepared to tolerate the treatment that the Windrush generation endured.

Sacrifice

My dad’s generation kept their feelings of hurt undercover as a sacrifice to keep working, provide for their families, and send money home to elderly relatives.

getting good batters out and received encouragement from my coaches, I realised there could be a future in the game for me.

It’s now over 40 years since I arrived in the UK, and as a society we have made great strides forward. My children only know this country as their home, and through education and their