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That ball exits his hand following of that liquid smooth motion. Agile yet muscular limbs moving together, it’s so easy visually pleasing that it’s nearly laughable. The loping, fluid approach toward the bowling crease, hip alignment almost connected to stumps at the bowler’s end. High elbow and rapidly rotating bowling shoulder brushing past the edge of the official’s hat by barely a millimetre. It is released while the spectators and batsman freeze.

“That was exciting, there was a gasp or a cheer every single over,” said Jofra Archer after his destructive performance pace attack which reduced South Africa’s batting lineup in disarray. The home side achieved a record win, the bowler ending taking four wickets. During the spell, his figures were four dismissals for the cost of five runs, yet this was a spells in which statistics didn’t even seem to matter.

It’s often said but there is a unique thrill about seeing a fast bowler at peak performance, top speed. Maybe especially today, with bat increasingly dominating bowling globally, batsmen peppering the stands celebrating, high scores being laid waste including young prodigies excelling on the world stage. That’s why a satisfying recalibration witnessing perennially big-hitting players “dismissed”; even better to see them hopping around their stance as if in a beer garden who has accidentally trod on a dog’s tail. See how it whistles by their face, deviates past the edge or flies dangerously near to the stumps that it could murmur sweet nothings into the bail groove as it passes to reach the wicketkeeper.

His performance built excitement and gave memories. Most supporters’ thoughts would have fast-forwarded a couple of months to Perth and the first Ashes Test. The thought of seeing him in Australia, back to his best after years of debilitating injury recovery, running amok through the Aussie batting card. It doesn’t just quicken the pulse it makes it heart-racing. Take that perfect delivery from comeback Test amplify it tenfold.

Some would also have been reminded his bowling against the batsman at Lord’s in the 2019 Ashes and one of the most intense phases pace bowling ever seen. Long after the players retire their boots, that passage of cricket shall be remembered. Few recall what Archer’s figures were or the runs Smith made, this was a performances that elevates and embeds above most others, making the numbers or the outcome of the match irrelevant.

Recall intense and zinc-lipped Allan Donald facing wide-eyed the batsman at Trent Bridge in 1998. Or, sticking with the rivalry theme, the all-rounder charging like a fair-haired, determined locomotive to Jacques Kallis at Edgbaston a decade on. The latter normally appeared unshakeable but, during that spell of pressure from Flintoff, temporarily looked like something more like fragile.

That Flintoff spell made an impact on a rising star destined for greatness. A 26-year-old the protea participated in debut series in the UK, an injury suffered early on meant he was an onlooker in Birmingham. “Among my most vivid recollections,” says Steyn. “Fans were electric I’d never heard anything like it. They were cheering him on and it all seemed legendary. I wanted a piece of that when I bowled. That theatre and intensity. Seeing that was truly special to me is what Test cricket at its best.”

“During those peak moments, everything is so easy. Your approach, you’re following through. It all seems perfect and there’s no strain on the body. It’s just flowing out.”

Most of us may never get close to anything like it, so it prompts the question – what does it feel like to be a paceman during one of those spells, when everything clicks, each delivery is on a string and the batter might as well be under your command? “It just happens” was about as detailed the legend got when trying describe the times he got on a hot streak.

“Absolutely amazing!” Thankfully, the former England fast bowler the athlete is less equivocal. “When you’re in good rhythm, everything is smooth. Your run-in, you’re following through. It all seems right and there’s no strain physically. It’s just natural. Really, those moments, they are, understand, simply …”

Malcolm is briefly lost in a moment reflection. Maybe describing it is quite hard explain this stuff in the end.

“Let me add,” he continues after pausing. “Those spells, those golden days, compensate for every instance upon waking and can’t get out of bed, when everything aches. So you earn them in a way. All the catches is held, every appeal are given, the crowd is behind you and it feels like it’s your time to shine.”

He left cricket recently; an avid skateboarder, wave rider and fisher, finds excitement in other ways apart from fast bowling these days. He’s recently turned a dad newly. His head hits the pillow weary but content daily, yet one sensation he misses.

“It’s like an instinct almost. You feel that you possess this incredible power during those spells. You perceive the anxiety and the thrill and you know that you’re the cause.”

Additionally in detail: “There’s an instant as the delivery leaves your fingers, you know it because it has left your hand so many times, I’m imagining it now … when the ball finishes leaving your grip at the very, very, last second, you sense your digit brush the seam and it releases, mentally you realize immediately that this is a great delivery, that it’s almost certain to be a wicket. That’s the feeling I yearn for.”