Biography

An English cricketer, Alan Butcher hails from a family of cricketers – his brothers, Martin and Ian played first-class cricket; later, his sons, Mark and Gary also played for Surrey and Glamorgan respectively.

“Butch” as he is nickamed, had a fabulous first-class career. He was a stylish left-handed opening batsman and a strong back foot player. Initially a left-arm fast bowler, he later took up the role of a batsman. However, Butcher's taste of international cricket was limited to just one Test and an ODI. His Test debut came against India in 1979, and a year later, he played his only ODI against Australia. Budgie failed to perform on the international front, despite a wonderful career in county cricket. England never looked back to him for selection, so he continued to play domestic cricket. He captained Surrey for a long time, and after 15 years of dedication to the county, switched to Glamorgan. There, he took over captaincy in 1989, before he finally hung his boots in 1992.

Post retirement, Butcher took to coaching, starting with Essex and then Surrey. However, he failed to make any notable impact there and was sacked by the latter. He was then called up in early 2010 to fill in the coaching space left by Walter Chawaguta in the Zimbabwean national team. Butcher started on a positive note, as Zimbabwe claimed victory in their comeback Test against Bangladesh in 2011 under his tenure.