Top 5 England cricketers who never played the Cricket World Cup
During the first five editions of the ICC Cricket World Cup, England were the ultimate underachievers of the tournament, having finished runners-up on three occasions in 1979, 1987 and 1992. Nevertheless, a lot of the country’s finest players have played in the World Cup including the likes of Graham Gooch, Geoffrey Boycott, Alec Stewart, Bob Willis, Ian Botham, just to name a few.
However, there have been a number of cricketers from England who had what it takes to play in the World Cup but did not find a place in the squad. Here are five prominent England cricketers who never played in the World Cup.
#5 Devon Malcolm
Devon Malcolm was one of England's finest Test bowlers during the early and mid-90s and one of the fastest bowlers in the world during his prime. He took 128 Test wickets throughout his Test career including 5 five-wicket hauls with his best bowling figures being 9/57 against South Africa.
However, Malcolm hardly got the opportunity to showcase his bowling in ODIs despite an impressive record of 249 wickets in List-A cricket that includes two five-wicket hauls and a spell of 7/35. The Jamaican-born had a remarkable start to his ODI career with a spell of 2/19 against New Zealand at The Oval in 1990.
After playing a few matches in 1990, Malcolm did not feature in the ODI team till 1993 despite doing fairly well in Tests. He thus failed to find a spot in the 1992 World Cup. He played in a few ODIs in 1993 and 1994, taking three wickets on two occasions. However, despite bowling a fine spell of 3/41 against West Indies, Malcolm was dropped from the ODI team once again and was never recalled.