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Full name Mark Alan Butcher
Born August 23, 1972, Croydon, Surrey
Current age 35 years 336 days
Major teams England,Surrey
Nickname Butch, Baz
Batting style Left-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm medium
Height
5 ft 11 in
Education Trinity School, Archbishop Tenison's, Croydon
Relations Father - AR Butcher,Uncle - MS Butcher,Uncle - IP Butcher,Brother - GP Butcher
Batting and fielding averages
Mat
Inns
NO
Runs
HS
Ave
BF
SR
100
50
4s
6s
Ct
St
Tests
71
131
7
4288
173*
34.58
10005
42.85
8
23
559
3
61
0
First-class
275
470
37
17619
259
40.69
38
93
253
0
List A
191
171
31
4460
139
31.85
2
28
63
0
Twenty20
13
12
0
210
60
17.50
162
129.62
0
2
30
2
4
0
Bowling averages
Mat
Inns
Balls
Runs
Wkts
BBI
BBM
Ave
Econ
SR
4w
5w
10
Tests
71
30
901
541
15
4/42
5/68
36.06
3.60
60.0
2
0
0
First-class
275
7703
4237
125
5/86
33.89
3.30
61.6
1
0
List A
191
2527
2210
49
3/23
3/23
45.10
5.24
51.5
0
0
0
Twenty20
13
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Career statistics
Test debut
England v Australia at Birmingham, Jun 5-8, 1997 scorecard
Last Test
South Africa v England at Durban, Dec 26-30, 2004 scorecard
Test statistics
First-class debut
1992
Last First-class
Surrey v Somerset at Croydon, May 30-Jun 2, 2008 scorecard
List A debut
1991
Last List A
Essex v Surrey at Chelmsford, May 25, 2008 scorecard
Mark Butcher's Test career has consisted of four patchy years, three profitable ones, and one amazing day. He broke into the England side in 1997 as a combative opener with a punchy cover-drive, a sure sense of his off stump, and a glaring weakness against spin. Given an extended run, he repaid the selectors with vital centuries in 1998 against the world's two best teams - South Africa at Headingley and Australia at Brisbane. In 1999, he even captained England in a Test against New Zealand. But the runs dried up in South Africa, his Surrey form crumbled, and so did his marriage, to
Alec Stewart's sister Judy. Butcher lost his appetite for the game, and his Test place to Marcus Trescothick. His father, Alan, a one-Test wonder and respected coach, helped him rebuild his technique and he made an unexpected comeback as a Test No. 3 in 2001. His fighting qualities brought a string of useful scores, and then came nirvana: a blazing, take-no-prisoners 173 not out against Australia at Headingley, turning a stiff run-chase into a breeze. It was the innings of his life. On the flat pitches of 2002, he
finally achieved consistency, making 551 runs at 55 and maturely playing David Boon to Trescothick and Vaughan's Taylor and Slater. He also wrote and sang a touching ballad at the memorial service for his team-mate Ben Hollioake, entitled You're Never Gone. His old frailties resurfaced in the 2002-03 Ashes - running haplessly between the wickets and getting out when set - and carried over into the following year, when he was in arguably the form of his life. But he mounted a comeback in 2004, as England's highest scorer in their 3-0 Test series routing of West Indies in the Caribbean - where he made 296 runs in four matches, but a series of freak injuries the following summer brought to an end a run of 42 consecutive Test appearances, and left him once again on the periphery of the team. He reached 50 Tests, curiously, without playing in a single one-day international, and was appointed Surrey captain for the 2005 season, but broke his hand and was only able to take up the reins in the middle of August. Surrey were relegated soon afterwards.
Tim de Lisle January 2006
