Cricket: Malcolm poised to gain late movement

WHEN Devon Malcolm this week becomes the latest cricketer to change counties, he will compound anxieties about rising salaries in the game. England's fastest bowler will leave Derbyshire after 13 seasons, having received much higher offers, of at least pounds 25,000 more a year, from seven other clubs.

His decision to move, probably to Northamptonshire, follows that of his erstwhile Derbyshire colleague, Chris Adams, who will almost certainly sign for Sussex as their new captain, and the return to Leicestershire on Friday of Chris Lewis. No precise figures have been disclosed but both Adams and Lewis have been in discussions, if not bidding wars, with several counties hungry for trophies.

The sort of sums involved, possibly quadrupling the pounds 20,000 minimum negotiated by the Cricketers' Association only two years ago, might not encourage a top Premiership footballer to get out of bed but could well persuade concerned officials of the England and Wales Cricket Board at Lord's to take to theirs. While they are there the nightmares they suffer about the increasing movement of established players may also include realistic visions of an end to two significant aspects of the first-class game: the way players are categorised as either list one or list two, and the benefit system.

Derbyshire's chairman Vic Brownett is clinging to the hope that Malcolm's emotional tie to the county which gave him a chance in first-class cricket when nobody else wanted to know will persuade him to stay. There is a little more cash but Brownett is trusting that the promise of calling part of the planned new indoor cricket arena at Derby the Devon Malcolm Bowling Centre will be sufficient lure. He is likely to be disappointed. "I've told Devon that there's more to life than money," said Brownett. "We want him to be part of our plans for a new stand and redevelopment of the ground."

Malcolm has promised to reveal his intentions towards the end of the week. Northamptonshire remain his favoured destination. Their former captain Allan Lamb is a chum who gave enormous help to Malcolm during his benefit this year and has been talking up the merits of Wantage Road. The signing of the Australian bowler Paul Reiffel, whose accurate seam movement ought to be an effective foil to the Englishman's pace, will have further concentrated his mind.

But the salary package to a bowler who will be 35 by next summer - albeit a fit, enthusiastic one with perhaps three years left - is doubtless decisive. At something probably in excess of pounds 70,000, it is the sort of figure which will further aggravate worries at the ECB whose officers have already issued warnings about ensuring the payment of wages the game can afford.

If they have a point they might also like to consider why somebody with nearly 40 Test caps who is among the two or three most popular cricketers in the country should have been so modestly rewarded at county level until now. Derbyshire have a three-tier wage structure varying between pounds 20,000 and pounds 40,000. Malcolm has been nearer the bottom rung than the top. "There is a history to this," said his agent Naynesh Desai. "Over the years he has been the poorest paid of their senior players and he felt very let down this year by the lack of support some of his team-mates showed for his benefit."

At least Malcolm was around long enough to have a benefit, certain to be a Derbyshire record at around pounds 200,000. By resuming his career elsewhere after nine years Adams has probably foregone one. Whatever he makes at Sussex or anywhere else will be some compensation for that. "I'm definitely steering towards them," he said last week after the ECB had granted his request to be a list two player as Derbyshire had agreed to release him from the last year of his contract. "I want to be captain and Sussex have an optimistic air." The ECB ordered a cooling-off period of 14 days before he signs for any club. As a list one player - those who are either under contract or have been offered a new one - his options for moving were limited. Counties are allowed to enlist only two such players in five years but any number from list two.

As it happens, the Adams regrading also widens Sussex's options. They were entitled to sign him whatever his category but they will be delighted now at having the opportunity to recruit another list one player. Perhaps they encouraged Adams' appeal. The day after, the Cricketers' Association urged a review of the system and, although they were careful to say the Adams case was not directly concerned, the timing can hardly have been a coincidence. Lord MacLaurin may not agree but these seem to be times of change and division in first-class cricket.