Biography

One of the most prolific run-scorer in county cricket, the talented Mark Ramprakash started playing cricket at the age of 17 when he made his debut for Middlesex, scoring 63 not out and 71 in his first two games. At the age of 18 his Man-of-the-match innings of 56 helped Middlesex defeat Worcestershire in the 1988 NatWest Trophy Final. He also captained the England U-19 team.

Mark’s maiden first class century came at Headingley against Yorkshire in 1989. He moved to Surrey in 2001 but was consistent in 2006 and 2007 season, was averaging over 100 with 2278 runs. He made his Test debut against West Indies at Headingley in 1991, but couldn't impress much and was hence dropped in 1992. During the 1993 Ashes series when England were already 4-0 down, they recalled him and he did perform well in that game by scoring 64 which secured some consolation win and booked his place in the side. Nicknamed as "Bloodaxe" for his short temper, he was always in and out of the English side. During the 1997-98 Test series vs West Indies he scored 154 in the 5th Test which was his first Test hundred, and that guaranteed him an England selection for next few seasons. During the 2009 Ashes he was called by the pundits and Alec Stewart himself to make a comeback but Jonathan Trott was preferred over him. In 2010, Mark again emerged as Surrey's leading run scorer. He was stuck on 99 first-class hundreds, he had a lean patch but that didn’t deter him from scoring his 100th ton. Mark’s first-class career boasts of over 35,000 runs with 114 hundreds. In 2012, he finally called it quits, announcing his retirement from international cricket.