Mark Ramprakash facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Mark Ramprakash

Personal information
Full name	Mark Ravin Ramprakash
Born	(1969-09-05) 5 September 1969 (age 55) Bushey, Hertfordshire, England
Nickname	Ramps, Bloodaxe, The Hips, Twenties
Height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Batting	Right-handed
Bowling	Right arm off-spin
Role	Batsman
International information
National side	England
Test debut (cap 549)	6 June 1991 v West Indies
Last Test	3 April 2002 v New Zealand
ODI debut (cap 114)	25 May 1991 v West Indies
Last ODI	13 October 2001 v Zimbabwe
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1987–2000	Middlesex
2001–2012	Surrey (squad no. 77)
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI FC LA Matches 52 18 461 407 Runs scored 2,350 376 35,659 13,273 Batting average 27.32 26.85 53.14 40.22 100s/50s 2/12 0/1 114/147 17/85 Top score 154 51 301* 147* Balls bowled 895 132 4,177 1,734 Wickets 4 4 34 46 Bowling average 119.25 27.00 64.76 29.43 5 wickets in innings 0 0 0 1 10 wickets in match 0 0 0 0 Best bowling 1/2 3/28 3/32 5/38 Catches/stumpings 39/– 8/– 261/– 136/–
Source: CricketArchive, 11 July 2013

Mark Ravin Ramprakash (born September 5, 1969) is a famous English former cricketer and coach. He was known for his elegant batting style. Outside of cricket, he won the TV show Strictly Come Dancing in 2006.

Mark is currently the President and batting coach for Middlesex. Since 2020, he has also been the director of cricket for Harrow School.

Mark's Cricket Journey

Mark Ramprakash was a right-handed batsman who first became well-known playing for Middlesex. He was chosen to play for England when he was just 21 years old.

He was a very talented batsman and scored a lot of runs for his county teams. However, he didn't always perform as well as expected during his time playing for England.

In 2001, he moved to Surrey. There, he became an amazing run-scorer, averaging over 100 runs per innings in both 2006 and 2007. He is one of only 25 players ever to have scored 100 centuries in first-class cricket.

Coaching Roles

After his playing career, Mark became a coach.

• In November 2012, he was named batting coach for the England Lions in India.
• In January 2013, he became the batting coach for Middlesex.
• From November 2014, he served as England's batting coach for six years.
• In 2022, he returned to Middlesex as a consultant batting coach. He also took on a director of cricket role at Harrow School.
• In 2023, Middlesex elected him as their 26th club president for a two-year term.

Early Life and First Steps in Cricket

Mark Ramprakash was born in Bushey, Hertfordshire. His family background includes Indo-Guyanese and English heritage. His father was from British Guiana (now Guyana), and his mother was English.

He went to Gayton High School and then Harrow Weald Sixth Form College. His first local club was Bessborough Cricket Club. He started as a fast bowler but later focused on batting.

Mark played his first match for Middlesex at just 17 years old. He scored 63 not out. In his second match, he top-scored with 71 runs. He was still a student at the time!

He scored his first first-class century in 1989. He also captained the England Under-19 team. At 18, he won the man-of-the-match award in the 1988 NatWest Trophy Final, helping Middlesex beat Worcestershire.

Mark was a talented all-round sportsman. He had to choose between playing football for Watford FC or continuing with cricket. He chose cricket.

"Bloodaxe" Nickname

In his younger days as a professional cricketer, Mark Ramprakash had a reputation for being a bit fiery. His Middlesex teammates nicknamed him "Bloodaxe" because he could sometimes have a short temper. This was different from his calmer personality later in his career.

Even though teammates like Graham Gooch and Adam Hollioake advised him to stay calm, he sometimes struggled to control his temper.

Playing for England

Mark Ramprakash was chosen for his first Test match for England in 1991 against the West Indies. Like many young players, he found it tough at first, scoring low runs against some of the best bowlers in the world.

However, he helped England win that first Test match. He played all six Test matches in 1991 but was later dropped from the team.

Test Match Highlights

• He was recalled to the England team in 1993. He scored 64 runs, helping England win a match against Australia.
• He scored his first Test century (154 runs) against the West Indies in 1997–98. This helped him play regularly for England for the next year and a half.
• He scored another century (133 runs) against Australia in 2001.
• He played his last Test match for England in March 2002.

Even though he was a great county player, he often struggled to keep his place in the England team.

Success with Surrey

In 2001, Mark joined Surrey. His performance got much better there.

• In 2003, he became the first player to score a century against all 18 county teams. He completed this by scoring a century against his old team, Middlesex.
• He became the first person to captain both Middlesex and Surrey in 2005.
• In 2006, he had an amazing season. He scored a career-best 292 runs and then 301 not out! He was the first player since 2001 to score over 2,000 runs in a season. He also became the first person to score over 150 runs in five matches in a row.
• His incredible form in 2006 earned him the Professional Cricketers' Association Player of the Year Award and he was named one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year.
• His great form continued in 2007. He scored 2,026 runs and ten centuries, averaging over 100 runs for two seasons in a row!
• On August 2, 2008, he scored his 100th first-class century. This made him only the 25th player in history to reach this milestone. As of 2024, he is the last cricketer to achieve 100 centuries in first-class cricket.
• He retired from all forms of cricket on July 4, 2012. He had scored 114 centuries, placing him 16th on the all-time list of first-class century-makers.

Mark Ramprakash was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 2013 for his services to sport.

Beyond the Cricket Field

In 2006, Mark Ramprakash and his dance partner Karen Hardy won the BBC show Strictly Come Dancing. He was the second cricketer in a row to win the show. In 2008, he won a special Strictly Come Dancing episode for Sport Relief.

When he was a schoolboy, Mark was also on the books of Watford F.C. (a football club). He later chose to focus on cricket. For a short time in 2003, he was a P.E. teacher at St. Martin's School, Northwood.

Mark is a big fan of Arsenal Football Club and plays for their team of former professionals and celebrities.

In 2008, he appeared on the CBBC show Hider in the House.

Mark is also an ambassador for the British Asian Trust, a charity that helps people in South Asia.